The Tethering of Fated Hearts
by always-tethered
Summary: Lea's journey before & after Glee and how she meets the love of her life. The course of love never was smooth, but their epic romance is fate. Cory and Lea both must learn to trust and deal with the obstacles they face. ships: MONCHELE
1. Chapter 1: Misery

The room was dark, filled only with the thoughts of a lonely petite girl hiding under her bed covers from the outside world. She couldn't seem to shut up her own mind and her thoughts. Her conscious and subconscious seemed to release all of her insecurities in a rush at once and had no signs of slowing. What is wrong with me? I will never be good enough. Why do I get in such deep depression funks? I'm supposed to be stronger than this. Am I really that pathetic sitting alone in her room flooding her eyes out?

In the sad realization of her self pity, Lea couldn't understand how she got there. She remembered her dreams after graduating high school and swearing she would never let others tear her down even though it came with the biz. Deep down she knew the truth. Her self-esteem was fragile, no different than the next girl. She had just been hurt in one of the hardest ways possible. On bad days like today she had troubles coping with the isolation.

Too many nights she sat, lying in bed, daydreaming about an alternate reality and realizing that her world would never compare. It was nights like these where all she wanted was someone. Someone who understood everything about her and knew by looking into her eyes what she was feeling. Someone who would be there to just listen and talk. Lea knew the real truth though. She wanted the comfort of a guy who would giver her teddy bear hugs and hold her in his arms until they were forced to break apart. Was it so bad to want to feel secure and loved? Her past relationships seemed destined to end badly, with Lea crashing and burning right along with them.

But tonight was just like all the others. Lea was alone. Nothing in her life was going right. Her dreams of getting into the acting biz or even more on Broadway were dashed. The breakdown that night came from yet another casting director telling her she would never be pretty enough to make it in Hollywood. Not pretty enough? Those words stung down to the core and this time she couldn't just shake it off. Wondering why she even continued to try to do what she loved, Lea contemplated taking a beer or two out of the fridge.

Before she made it to the fridge to drown herself in her sorrows, the phone rang. Was it even worth answering? Lea thought, deciding with her luck that it was probably just another call back saying she had no talent and couldn't sing. Slowly, she walked to her phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" Lea managed to get out, trying not to sound like she hadn't been crying for the last few hours.

"LEA! You never called me back!" a high pitched cheerful voice filled the phone.

Lea paused, realizing how the time had gotten away from her. Not wanting to really talk to anyone when she sounded so pathetic, she didn't feel too sorry for not returning the phone call. Dianna broke the silence, "Lea… are you okay sweetie?"

This time Lea answered, "Yea, sorry Dee, I've just had a rough day I guess." Realizing the tone of her voice Dianna understood that all to well known tone and feeling of rejection. She too had no luck in getting herself casted and had to deal with the same harsh rejection that Lea was feeling. Trying to make her friend feel better, Dianna wasn't going to let Lea be alone at a time like this.

"Cheer up Lea! I have just the news for you! I found us both another show to audition for and it looks like its going to be a good one, I can feel it Lee, this is going to be our break. My agent just gave me the script yesterday and there are multiple roles still open."

Not amused or ready for another harsh rejection, Lea was hesitant. But after all the trouble Dianna was going through to help her, she couldn't say no. This will be the last audition for awhile, Lea promised herself. She wasn't sure if she could take any more people flat out telling her that she didn't have the looks or talent. Lea hung up the phone after some chatting and headed for bed. A hangover the next morning was not worth forgetting her troubles for the night.


	2. Chapter 2: Maybe This Time

An all too familiar small black car pulled up in the driveway as Lea watched the driver get out and walk to her front door. Now's the time she thought. Time to put on her mask. Truth was she was terrified, today was the big day. If she didn't get a role, that was it. It's make or break time. How was she supposed to prepare herself for her audition if the only thing in her mind was falling apart and facing more cruel rejection? Lea walked downstairs and answered the door.

Standing before her, Dianna smiled so big that Lea swore she was trying to cure cancer, or worse her broken spirit. "Are you ready to become a star?" Dianna said while she handed Lea a fresh cup of Starbucks coffee. Lea giggled looking down at the cup and then back at her friend, "you always know just how to make my day better." Dianna smiled matter-o-fact-ly and led Lea back to her car. Before Lea knew it they were pulling out of the driveway and onto the highway.

"So," Dianna glanced over at Lea who was staring back smiling. "I meant to ask you the other night, but how are you doing sweetie?" Lea looked away and the smile faded, she knew exactly what Dianna wanted to talk about but couldn't she tell she was trying to forget about him? The him being her ex-boyfriend Theo, who had dumped her for another girl less than a week ago. "I'm fine Dee, could we just not talk about it today? I don't need to be focused on anything but my audition," Lea said as she pushed the memory of the breakup further and further to the back of her mind.

"Fine," replyed Dianna who hated to see her friend so hurt, "but we are going to have this talk sooner or later… honestly dear I think it would just be better to get it all off your chest. And I'm always here for you, you know that right?" Lea sighed looking back to her friend, "of course I do, you are my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without ya." As she glanced back out the passenger window she said jokingly, "I'd never 'break into the biz' without you dear" and giggled. Wouldn't it be awesome though? For some reason she had a good feeling for this audition… she had hope.

As they pulled up to the studio Dianna noticed she was cutting it close on time for her audition. "Sorry Lee, I wish I didn't have to leave you, but you'll be fine killing time right?"

"Of course, good luck! You're going to be great!" Lea said reassuringly. Dianna grabbed her purse and scampered away forgetting to even lock the car door behind her.

Already knowing her way around, Lea decided to go for a walk. It was warm and sunny out but the heat was not unbearable. It seemed like everyone was taking advantage of the turn of weather from the previous rainstorms the city had been experiencing for the past few days. Maybe the perfect weather had been the catalyst for the change of heart Lea seemed to have. Today she actually felt happy. After reading and practicing the audition script over and over a sense of confidence filled every inch of her mind. It was like Lea was a new person, or the person she used to be. The difference was night and day.

Walking down the street, Lea herd a sudden rumbling. She hadn't noticed how hungry she was, so she quickly turned into a local deli up the street. After ordering her sandwich she sat at a small table next to the window looking out to watch the busy streets while she devoured her food.

"Excuse me," said a voice coming from a rather close distance. Lea turned and realized that a tall boy with twinkling eyes and a shaved head stood inches away from her table. His clothes were simple, a white V-neck tee and loose worn jeans, yet they fit his body just right. His rather tighter shirt seemed to be made to contour to all of the muscles in his arms and chest specifically. Of course Lea found him attractive, what girl wouldn't?

"Would you mind if I sat with you?" the attractive boy asked. "Of course you can!" the newly positive Lea beamed. "Cool. I'm Mark by the way, Mark Salling." The name sounded familiar. "Wait," Lea said questioningly, "I've seen you before… you were in the corn children movie or whatever weren't you?" Mark smiled and nodded "Yup, that was yours truly. I still haven't caught your name, what's your story?"

Lea couldn't believe how jealous she was. He had actually landed a role, the one thing she had dreamed of her whole life. "It's Lea," she flashed an infectious smile. "Originally from New York, my life is pretty much singing and acting so I'm here auditioning for a new show." She looked at his face, it was as if he connected something that she had not. "It wouldn't perhaps be for Glee, now, would it?" Mark chuckled knowing there was a good chance he was right.

Lea was puzzled and truthfully a little creeped out. Mark continued with a laugh, "By the look on your face I'd say I'm definitely right. I'd say I'm psychic or some cool shit like that, but I'd be lying. I actually just got casted for the role of Puck. Excitement ran through her veins. She rather liked Mark, he seemed sweet and if by some miracle she got the part she would get to hang out with him more. "Whoa that's awesome!" Lea exclaimed, carrying the conversation into talking about the show and acting.

Before she knew it Lea looked at the clock and saw it was about time she got to the studio for her time slot. Their conversation seemed to have covered everything from childhood memories to best first dates, it was just so EASY to talk to him. It seemed like they knew so much about each other after just meeting a couple hours earlier. Most of it was just joking around, in a type of brother-sister way of conversing and that is all she felt for him. Nothing more or less than just a very kind and caring friend.

"Well, I gotta go… hopefully I'll be seeing more of you soon?," Lea said as she gathered her things and stood up. "You better, make sure you flash that pearly while smile you got and they wont be able to reject you," Mark said and smiled, "Good luck! Go get um tiger." With that Lea was off and butterflies were now filling her overstuffed belly. She wanted the part more than ever… It was practically made for her.

Lea walked into the casting studio and waited to be called. "There you are Lee! It went so good girl! I think I nailed it!" Dianna said excitedly. "I've got to run but I'll pick you up when you're done… you can do it! Just believe!" Lea nodded and smiled. Dianna couldn't help but notice the new smile that hung on Lea's face, it was the old Lea. The Lea who would never let anything get in her way.

"Lea Sarfati," a woman with a nasally voice called. "Yes?," Lea answered almost before the woman finished saying her last name. "Come with me please," the woman beckoned. Lea stood up, took in a deep breath, and followed her through the heavy gold doors.


	3. Chapter 3: Isn't She Lovely

The time flew by. With every line Lea became more and more confident. By mid-way she actually had herself believing she was this 'Rachel Berry' character. After a few questions at the end Lea broke out of her character mode and thanked the casting directions for their time. A call on the decision would apparently come in around a week and Lea was led back through the gold doors, out through the lobby, until she was finally outside.

A car horn honked loudly, causing Lea to look up suddenly. An excited and smiling face sat in the dark car parked across the street. Dianna waved and watched as Lea moved towards the car. Before she could take two steps, someone stopped in front of her pathway. Mark smiled, "so how'd it go miss Sarfati? Are they going to start calling you the next Streisand?" he joked, amused at his own comedy.

"It felt really good! But there's no way I could ever be compared to that amazing woman!" she giggled. Watching from the car, Dianna couldn't help but notice the positive energy that seemed to emit from Lea. It was as if she was the sun; blinding people by her dazzling smile and releasing her warm glow so that everyone she came in contact with could also experience her energy.

"Well," Mark said, "There's this party tonight a friend of mine is throwing, I dunno it should be fun and not too crazy. I'll send you the address, you should stop by!" He said as if Lea didn't really have an option in coming. "Sounds like a blast Mark, I really got to run now though… I think my ride is getting mad for having to wait on me." She glanced back to the black car for merely a second. It was just long enough to see Dianna turn the car back on. "No problem Barbra Jr, I'll catch you later." Mark spread his arms open while Lea circled hers under his into a comfy hug.

It probably seemed really weird to anyone who knew that they had just met that day, Lea though, but it felt like hugging an older brother. It was just so easy and natural without any awkwardness to it. As much as she liked Mark, there was no romantic chemistry between them. No spark. For all that she knew and believed Mark felt the same way in return.

They parted ways and Lea walked over towards Dianna, who was definitely giving Lea quite a look. Her lips were pursed into a smile and one eyebrow was raised in immense enjoyment of the scene that she had just witnessed. Lea got into the car giggling, "It's not like that Dee, I met him earlier… It's hard to explain. But really it's just not like that!" Dianna just sat and smiled as her friend tried to explain her self.

The ride back to Lea's was filled with chatter about how the auditions went along with the story of this new boy and the party. "OH WE ARE SO GOING!" Dianna exclaimed as they pulled up into the driveway. They walked inside and into the kitchen to get some lemonade, both thirsty from talking so much.

…[later that night]…

Lea walked out of her room nervously, "What do you think?" She looked down at the dress she was wearing. Made out of black leather, the strapless dress accentuated her hourglass figure. It came up mid-thigh, drawing attention to her toned, flawless legs. Unlike many other leather dresses, this one looked less biker chick and more model chic.

Dianna looked at the dress stunned. "You look… SO gorgeous Lee! Seriously you are going to own that party. Just make sure you pick the hottest one to go home with," Dianna winked and grinned. "Oh stop that!" Lea snorted trying not to let out her loud infectious laugh. She had herd through the grapevine that her ex-boyfriend Theo might be going too. Lea wanted not to necessarily make him jealous, because she loathed him for how he broke her heart, but make sorry and suffer for what he lost. She wasn't going to let him see how hurt she was.

They parked the car down the street in line with all the rest and walked towards the address of the party. Lea and Dianna walked up the path to the doors, looked at each other in excitement, and stepped inside. The party was crowded and Lea didn't recognize any of the faces she was seeing while scanning the room. She grabbed Dianna's hand, "Come on Dee, I've got to go find Mark. He'll kill me if I don't at least say hi." Leading her friend through the twists and turns of people and furniture, Lea finally spotted Mark on the opposite side of the living room.

Dianna pulled away, "Go ahead Lee, I'll be around." With a smile and a quick turn into the crowd she was gone. Lea had no worries that Dianna wouldn't be able to find someone to talk to, she was always so outgoing in situations like this. "Hey Streisand, over here." Lea spun on her foot to meet Marks glance and proceeded towards him with a smile.

"Didn't think you were going to show," he said playfully. "But you're here, guns loaded… nice dress," he said as he took one good look at it and remade eye contact with Lea. "I said I'd come didn't I?" She giggled as she flashed one of her famous full-mouth dazzling smiles, "and thanks."

"I'm going to get another drink," Mark continued with an eyebrow raised, "would you like something?" It was a party, Lea thought, why not? Just so that she didn't go over her limit and make a fool of herself, things would be fine. "Sure! Mixed drink though please," she laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "I really hate the taste of beer."

"Coming right up," Mark made his way to the kitchen, getting lost in the crowd on the way. To pass the time Lea did a quick check to make sure her dress was still in order and that too much cleavage wasn't showing. When she looked up and scanned the room, Lea accidentally made eye contact with someone on the other side of the crowd.

Unlike in most cases she couldn't break the gaze. It was like her eyes were glued to him and his were glued to her. It seemed as if she had been staring at him for hours, even though it was just a moment. He had on a black V-neck tee with a dark leather jacket and dark washed jeans. From her peripheral vision, eyes still locked of the boy, Lea identified a girl standing next to him. it was Dianna. Figures Lea thought, she always finds the attractive ones to talk to.

The left side of his mouth rose upwards into a crooked smile as lea's whole face spread into an unstoppable closed mouth smile threatening to break open. She was lost in the golden brown pools that made up the color of his iris's. He looked away, apparently Dianna had realized he wasn't paying attention anymore and said something. Lea laughed, looking downwards at her feet.

"Lea?" a voice came from in front of her. Lea looked up only to be disappointed, seeing the last face she ever wanted to see. It was Theo and he seemed to want to start a conversation, "Didn't know you'd be here… how are you?"

Lea looked at him in disgust, "actually this last week has been the best one of my life, how's the bimbo? Oh wait she's not really new is she? You were seeing her the same time we were dating." She shot back, knowing fully that it was a harsh jab but that he deserved it. "Why are you even talking to me, I have nothing to say to you," Lea glared at Theo before looking away and hoping Mark would come back soon.

"Actually she dumped me, but I'm not the one looking like a slut," he said in a raised voice looking at the skimpy dress she was wearing, "really Lee, are you trying to look easy? Or are you really just that desperate?"

"Get away from me," Lea said trying to push him out of the way, but he wouldn't budge. The crowd began to notice the verbal fight as Lea and Theo argued louder and louder. When Theo got mad he became violent and aggressive. Seeing Theo and hearing what he was saying to her only opened up unhealed wounds from the break up. It was like she had purposely been thrown in a salt truck, so that her wounds not only stung but burned. She wasn't strong enough to do this and not break down. Both out of anger and hurt, tears began to run down her cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4: Blame It On the Alcohol

"Whoa dude you need to back off." Lea looked up to see that someone had stepped directly in between her and Theo, but all she could see was his backside. It was him, the one with the adorable crooked smile, come to her rescue and oh man was he TALL.

"Don't tell me what to do, who the fuck do you think you are anyways? Mind your own business," Theo stood his ground even though he was basically looking up to the ceiling to look the boy in the eye.

"Screw you dude… that's no way to talk to her – so yeah, it is my business. Do yourself a favor and get lost." The tall boy was in no way intimidated by Theo. Lea couldn't come up with the words to describe what was going on. She didn't even know this boy, yet she felt completely safe and protected.

"What's going on here Cory?" Mark questioned, clearly knowing he missed something as he looked at the tall boy for an answer. Cory… Lea thought… Cory… the name just seemed to roll off her tongue…

With Theo still fuming Cory replied, "This douche bag doesn't seem to know how to talk to a lady." Lea inched sideways one step-length to have a better view of the scene and to be truthful, a better view of this Cory. "We'll just have to teach him a lesson, wont we?" Mark said suggestively to Cory with a big smirk on his face.

"Guys, GUYS STOP," Lea interjected not wanting to witness a fight. "Just get out of here Theo… _please_?" With that Theo decided to finally stand down and head for the front door, still fuming but not wanting to get his ass kicked.

Mark and Cory looked down to Lea. "You okay?" they both asked at the same time. Before Lea could get a word out and pull herself together, Dianna was at her side. Lea absolutely hated crying in front of others and Dianna knew her friend was embarrassed.

"Hey lets go to the bathroom," she whispered low enough so only Lea herd. "We'll be back in a bit boys," Dianna said before taking Lea by the arm pulling her towards the door. Lea took one last look at Cory, "Thanks… I… you didn't have to do that, but um… thanks."

Dianna kicked open the bathroom door, scooted inside, and locked it behind her. "I'm so embarrassed," sobbed Lea. I should have never come, she thought. "How am I supposed to go back out there? God this day went from amazing to horrible. I just met Mark today and now he's probably wishing he hadn't. I finally thought I had met another good friend and then this shit happens. That guy Cory probably thinks I'm some helpless case… I am so sorry for ruining your night Dee."

"STOP right there, you're not ruining my night! Lee its okay sweetie really, don't be embarrassed," Dianna said wiping a tear off Lea's cheek and handing her a wet towel to fix her makeup. "and trust me Lea, I know Cory… I've known him for a few years… he's really sweet and him standing up for you was so hot," Dianna trailed off remembering the moment. Lea couldn't help smiling from that comment.

"Plus, I couldn't help but notice he was totally checking you out the whole night," Dianna didn't have to look at Lea to know she hadn't stopped smiling. She continued on, "and you were definitely returning that stare. You really need to tone down on that eye-sex in public," she teased, "it was getting uncomfortable."

Dianna never failed to cheer her up, it was sickening how easy it was. "DEE! Stop it!" Lea laughed infectiously. "What? I'm just stating the obvious," Dianna said with a giggle in her voice.

"I just can't believe how I acted with Theo though, I thought I would be able to handle it and keep my cool. But the second I saw him I knew I wasn't going to be able to be cordial. A week is just not enough time to get over him cheating and breaking my heart you know? Good god I'm such a bitch..." Lea rambled on.

"Seriously Lee, stop. That jackass didn't deserve you to even look at him and frankly what did he expect? If I was anywhere near him, he would have been slapped so hard he'd never be able to smile again," Dianna tilted her head to the right and smiled creepishly as she finished her sentence causing Lea to laugh at the face Dianna was making.

Noticing that her friend had stopped crying, Dianna knew just how to turn the night around. "Lets just go out there and have a good time, just you and me," Dianna said as she stood up. Lea stood and readjusted her dress. She threw her arms around Dianna's ribcage. "Thank you so much Dee, I don't know what I would do without you."

"I'm always here for you babe," Dianna said. It was times like these that Lea was grateful for their friendship. "Lets go," Lea said with a smile, "let the party begin!"

Dianna and Lea made their way down the stairs spotting Cory and Mark in the kitchen in a group with some other guys. Noticing Lea and Dianna, Mark motioned them with his free hand to join.

"Hey guys!" Dianna said cheerfully while Lea stuck to a simple friendly smile. "You okay Streisand?" Mark asked while wrapping his free arm around Lea's shoulders.

"Yeah, I am now… Sorry that you guys had to witness that," Lea looked down at her feet for a split second before looking back up. "Don't be," Mark said reassuringly, "besides we gotta protect our own.. you're a shoe-in to get that part."

Lea laughed, "well thank you Mark and…" Lea connected once again with those golden sultry eyes, "Cory is it?" She loved saying it out loud. Realizing again his broad chest and how that damn v-neck fit his body perfectly, all Lea could think about was being wrapped close against him with his arms folded around her.

"Yup, that's it," he smiled staring only at Lea, "I don't think I've seen you at any of these parties before," Cory said trying to make conversation. Mark interjected jokingly, "That's because Lea didn't hang out with awesome people like me." Mark smiled down at Lea who finally broke eye contact with Cory. "Now," Mark said, "who wants a drink?"

They all did a few rounds of shots (besides Cory) as the night progressed. When Lea realized she was over her limit, she was having too much fun to stop. People had come and left the party without Lea even noticing. Mark was practically passed out on the couch, Dianna had made a friend named Naya and they were talking and drinking away in a corner, and Cory had stayed sober promising Mark he would take him home. The happy and drunk Lea was having a good time dancing and singing along to the music; not paying attention to any one else until she spotted Cory wandering around.

"Cooooory!" Lea exclaimed, making her way towards him. "Come dance with me!" she said as her loud infectious laugh rang out through the room.

He let out a little suppressed laugh. It was basically impossible to not join in with Lea while she laughed. "Dancing's not really my thing… I'd probably end up breaking your nose or something and I'd hate to mess up that adorable face of yours." The way Cory talked was so easy going and flirtatiously teasing at the same time.

"Would ya do it for me?" Lea bashed her eyelashes and pouted her lip. David Guetta's 'Where Them Girls At' began playing and the bass made the whole room rumble. Cory started taking a step backwards as Lea started to rock back and forth to the beat. It was clear Lea was going to dance no matter who was by her and not have a care in the world doing it.

She whipped her hair to the side with the beat and knocked herself off balance. Before she could fall to the ground Cory was there steadying her, his arm around her waist holding her firmly. With the touch Lea giggled looking directly into Cory's eyes. "I think that's enough dancing for you," Cory said with a huge smile stretched across his face.

"Also… lets put this drink down," he said as he took the red cup from Lea's hand. Although she didn't catch it, he hid it behind a picture frame so that she wouldn't find it again.

"Well aren't you a sweetie," Lea said as she grabbed the openings of his leather jacket. Cory watched her hands touch the outsides of his jacket and then looked at her lowering his head so that she would make eye contact with him. With a smile and a little shrug he replied, "I do my best…" Noticing that she clearly needed to go home he grabbed her hands from her jacket and held them in his. They fit perfectly. "What do you say we get you home?"

Lea shook her head no, "don't wana leave just yet, my ride," looking over to Dianna who was in no shape to drive, "is still having fun over there." Lea looked down at how he held her hands in his and gave Cory a sweet little smile. "annnd," Lea continued, "you're here with me. And you're just so strongg an sexxy." Lea's sweet little smile turned into a non-ending giggle until it was cut off with a tiny burp that she fought to keep in her mouth. Starting to get dizzy and swaying from side to side, Cory gazed into Lea's eyes realizing that she needed to sit down. He led her over to the closest oversized fabric chair fit for two.

She sat down right after Cory and almost lost her balance. Cory had let go of her hand and grab her waist as to steady her. Finally Lea sat down and Cory's hand remained around her waste to make sure she didn't fall off the couch. Lea swung her feet around so they laid across his lap and smiled, "You did such a good job standin there."

"Huh?" Cory said clearly not understanding what she meant. "Cor I just wanna really thank you. You didn have ta help me with Theo. But I appreciate it," Lea said slurring her words with a smile on her face.

Cory knew at that moment he wasn't going to let her out of his sight that night. He took it upon himself to take the adorable drunk girl home safely. Cory licked his lip while thinking of what to say, "don't worry Lea, it was nothing… he just looked like he was getting a little too pushy and you just looked like you needed help."

Lea smiled and nodded her head foolishly, "yup I sure did!" It was clear that she had something on her mind. Cory could read it all over her face and he was so curious that he wasn't going to let it go, "so Lea, what's on your mind?"

She thought for a second before answering, "This is just the most fun ive had in so longg! This weeks been hell an Theo… I don't wanna talk about." Her voice trailed off at the end and her head stared down at her lap. Cory's hand came up, close to Lea's face. His index finger stretched out touching the bottom of Lea's chin, slowly raising her head to be eye level with his.

Lea wasn't smiling for once, her face filled with a sad expression instead. Cory looked straight into her eyes, as if he was seeing her heart and soul inside. "Listen to me," he sad softly, "I may not know your past and I don't expect you to tell me, but I know you don't deserve to be treated like that. If he harasses you again, promise you'll call me so I can beat that jerk up?"

He had Lea smiling again, "I will." Feeling like her head was too heavy to hold up, Lea decided to rest it on Cory's shoulder. He looked up to see Mark in bad shape. Cory really didn't want to leave the spot he was in but knew he had to. Trying to figure out a way to trick Lea into letting him get her home safe he tried to make it sound more casual.

"Look Lea," he continued as she giggled, "I've got to take Mark home." Lea's happy smile turned downwards as she picked up her head to look Cory in the eyes and stuck out her lower lip into a pout. Cory tried his hardest to stay semi-serious. "Would you like to go on a car ride? Dianna can come too… It will be like the after party…" He laughed at how stupid he sounded but didn't know how else to word it.

Lea smiled excitingly, "SURRE! As long as I pick the music mkay?" Cory agreed and slipped his other hand under Lea's exposed Legs around the knees to help her stand up as he did. When standing, she curled into his side only half understanding what she was doing; all of her thoughts focused on his body and what a good hugger he was. Cory laughed giving Lea a quick hug and then prying her off him. He went to go get Mark and Dianna and they all left to get in the car.

Mark was dropped off first and then, with help from a little more sober Dianna, he dropped the girls off at Lea's for the night. Dianna laid down on the futon throwing a blanket over her as she went. During the ride the drunken tiredness started to hit Lea, so by the time they got to her place she was barely awake. Cory got over to the passenger door, helped Lea unbuckle her seat belt, and with one quick move picked her up and carried her inside to her room.

Laying her on her bed, he looked at her while pulling the cover over her. She woke up slightly and smiled at him. "You know, ya can kiss me if you want to Cor," she said with slurred speech looking into his eyes tiredly. "Not tonight," he said knowing she wouldn't remember anything the next day. With that Lea sort of shrugged and closed her eyes for good, her smile still etched across her face.


	5. Chapter 5: Something

After a few minutes of trying, Lea was able to open her eyes. The sunlight that shinned through her window caused her eyes to squint in pain. Dear lord how did I even get home last night? Lea racked her brain for any clues about the night before. This was the very last thing she wanted to happen. THEO, she remembered… he was there and they fought and… Mark was there and Cory, but what else happened?

Dianna walked into the bedroom with two steaming fresh cups of coffee and sat down on the bed next to Lea. "How ya feelin this morning hun?" Dianna knew the answer to that question by just looking at Lea.

Slowly Lea dragged herself to sit up in her bed. "Thanks Dee," she gave Dianna a painful looking smile while taking the cup of coffee. With ever sip Lea became more and more awake, but the ringing in her head wasn't going away. "Dee…" Lea began, "how did we get home last night? I mean I remember you had been drinking… you didn't drive did you?"

"Of course not, I was too drunk to drive," Dianna said taking a quick sip of her coffee, "Cory drove." Mid-swallow, Lea spit her coffee back into her mug choking on her drink, trying to breathe again. "Co… Cory drove us home?" Lea struggled to remember her night.

Dianna furrowed her eyebrows, trying to fight back the smile on her face, "How much of last night don't you remember Lee? You and Cory really hit it off," she drank another sip of her coffee. Laughing Dianna continued, "I've never see you get cozy with someone so fast Lee, you didn't even know the guy and you both couldn't stop staring at each other."

Lea's jaw dropped. It was slowly coming back to her: all the dancing, the stumbling, and the talking to Cory. "Dear god, why did I drink so much," Lea covered her face with her free hand. As much as she tried, she couldn't remember any dialogue from the night. She could picture looking into Cory's eyes and his crooked sexy smile, but that was the extent. There were so many things she hoped she hadn't said to him.

"Lee you seriously have one of the lowest tolerances I have ever seen," Dianna laughed as she shook her head. "but you were kinda your own train wreck extravaganza… in a good way though! Like you're just adorable and quirky and everyone just wants to be around you, because you're such a ball of energy."

She couldn't help but laugh at Dianna's description. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand closest to her bed and Lea opened it to see that she got a text. It was Mark: 'Streisand how you feeling this morning? Hopefully not too bad. I'm really glad you stopped by last night. It was fun.'

Lea read the text out loud and replied: 'I've been better, but I had fun too! Thanks for the invite! :).'

"So I'm curious…" Dianna said gently, "seems like Mark really likes you, even if you say its just as friends. And it seemed like you liked Cory, so what's going through that pretty mind of yours?"

Lea shrugged. She knew she could be honest with Dianna about everything and Dianna would have her back 100%. "Honestly Dee, I'm not sure. I mean I just got out of a relationship and Theo hurt me so much. I just don't know if I could trust someone so fast again. Mark's just a friend, and he needs to just stay that way. I just don't feel anything for him like romantically."

"I think you're trying to skip by someone," Dianna joked. "I wana know all about what you think about Cory."

"Oh," Lea said as she looked up at Dianna trying to gather her thoughts. Just thinking about him made her smile. "I dunno he seems very sweet and he's very… attractive," she said as she let her smile break through onto her face.

"I do have a question though," Lea said uncomfortably, "you said you've known Cory for awhile, did you guys well… did you guys have a thing?" It was painful to ask, but she wanted to know. "You two just seemed really comfortable with each other and… god I feel stupid, but it just looked like there was a past."

Dianna's smile began to fade slightly while her eyes seemed to spin in her sockets searching for how to say the next words out of her mouth. With a sigh she answered, "Yeah. Lee I just don't want you to make a quick judgment about Cory before you get to know him. It was awhile ago and he's not the same guy he was back then. Lee please don't write him off because I dated him years ago. It was short and I broke up with him because it wasn't working out." Pleading with Lea, Dianna tried her best to be convincing.

"I believe you," Lea lied, "and we'll see what happens. I just hope I didn't make a fool of myself last night." She tried to change the subject. But Lea knew Dianna could see through her lies. She could never date anyone who went out with her friend in the past. It was like a law in her mind, no matter how cool Dianna appeared to be with it.

Dianna sighed, she knew her friend too well. Lea was such a good friend that she would never do anything that could possibly ruin a friendship. "So you don't remember what you guys were talking about? Or what went down in your room?" Dianna questioned.

"Not really and don't say it like that Dee! Nothing happened.. I mean, no. nothing. nada." It didn't take Lea long to convince herself of it. Cory seemed like a nice guy from what she knew of him and she still had her dress on from the night before.

"Lets go make something to eat with this coffee," Lea said as she stood up and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. After some delicious buttermilk pancakes, Dianna called a friend to pick her up and bring her to go get her car.

As Lea watched her friend leave she realized how much she needed a shower. She walked towards the bathroom stripping off clothes as she went. The water warmed up as she stepped inside, letting the it run through her hair. It was actually helping the headache she had woken up with. As she finished her shower and got ready for the day all she could think about was retracing her night and how Cory had come to her rescue, almost beating up Theo for making her cry.

Those sultry eyes of his were engraved in Lea's memory. Her subconscious began to take control of her thoughts at this point. _Those eyes. So golden. And his hot body. I'm such a sucker for leather jackets and V-neck tee's… The way he said her name. How their gaze was locked from across the room. His crooked smile. Those eyes…_ "STOP IT!" Lea said out loud to herself. She knew it could never work. He dated one of her best friends. Even though it was before she knew Dee and Dee was okay with it.

Lea came to the conclusion that she was making something out of nothing. Cory didn't even know her. Why would he even want to date her? Even if he did, it wasn't going to happen… it couldn't.

A few days had passed. It was an ordinary day like every other and Lea was getting ready for a coffee date with Dianna later that afternoon. She walked outside with her car keys and noticed she forgot her phone so she had to turn back. Opening her front door she herd her phone ringing from the other room, it was probably Dianna wondering where she was, Lea thought.

To her surprise the caller was 'unknown' according to the text on the screen. She picked up the phone without anymore hesitation. "Hello?" she said.

"Hi is this Lea Sarfati?" the voice on the other line asked pausing for a response. "Yes this is Lea, how can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm a rep from Fox and after much consideration, we think you would be perfect for the Rachel Berry role that you auditioned for, so at this time we would like to offer you the part." Again the woman's voice paused.

On the inside Lea was freaking out while she paced her apartment listening to every word the woman said. Trying to be professional, Lea said calmly, "I would gladly accept your offer, thank you so much!"

"Great," the voice on the other line said, "we will let you know more details soon!"

Lea hung up her phone in shock. She had done it. Not sure how, but that wasn't really the point. She didn't care. Dianna was right, this role was her big break. Things were falling into place for once in her life and Lea couldn't be any more happier. Jumping up and down on her bed, she knew she had to tell someone. Of course her best friend would want to know. _SHOOT_ lea thought, she forgot about the coffee date. With a quick text to Dianna saying she was on her way, Lea was out the door and driving down the road.

She rushed into the coffee shop and spotted Dianna alone at a table reading a newspaper. "I'm so sorry Dee! I was on my way and I forgot my phone and then I got a call…"

Dee looked up and smiled, "it's no problem, how have you been sweetie?"

"Well," Lea began trying to hold back her excitement. With a sigh she pretended to be sad, "Fox called me back and… that's why I was late."

Dianna's face dropped, "Oh, I'm so sorry Lee. Are you… are you okay?"

She couldn't hold it in any longer and her face broke out into a massive smile while her infectious laugh filled the shop. "Of course im okay, Dee I got it! I got the part!"

Dianna slapped Lea's arm, "don't do that to me!"

"Sorry! I just couldn't help myself," Lea said excitedly. "I really hope you get the part you auditioned for too! How awesome would it be for us to work together?"

Before they knew it two hours had passed and it was time to get going. With a hug good bye, Lea and Dianna went there separate ways. Driving down the highway Lea couldn't stop smiling. One of her biggest dreams was coming true and she couldn't wait for her first day on set.

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><p>This chapter was more to set up chapter 6... hopefully i'll be able to finish and post it soon<br>p.s.- thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6: Can't Fight This Feeling

[A short recap and notes to the reader: Lea just got the call that she got the part for Rachel Berry in the new show Glee. After the end of last chapter at the coffee shop Dianna learns that she has landed the role of Quinn. Now we pick up on the first day of shooting where Dianna has just picked Lea up and they are carpooling to set.]

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><p>Dianna and Lea were both ecstatic about their day. "You excited to see Cory and Mark today? They should be on set already," Dianna asked.<p>

_Crap_, Lea thought. This job is one of the most bittersweet things in my life. She hadn't spoken to Cory since the night of the party where she knew she had made a fool of herself. It was getting to Lea and Dianna could read it in her hesitation. "Something the matter Lee?," Dianna inquired.

Lea could sum it all up in one word. "Cory," she said.

Dianna shot her a disapproving look. "Lea… if you're still worried about it being awkward between you two just stop. You're psyching yourself out dear. Its not like anything really even went down," she said nonchalantly hoping that it would put an ease to Lea's mind.

"Dee, we haven't talked since.. I.. Filming is just going to be plain awkward," whispered Lea.

"You are so over-dramatic sweetie," Dianna said with a laugh. "Seriously, the worst you did was trip and spilled a little of your drink on him. Just think of it this way, you're just getting him prepared for being slushied on the show!" As Dianna tried to hold it in she realized it was no use and burst out laughing.

Lea glared over at her friend, "ITS NOT FUNNY!" she roared over Dianna's laughing. "It wasn't just that, I don't remember half of the things I said to him." It was obvious to Dianna that Lea was not calming down.

"Lee, just trust me. Cory doesn't think any less of you for that night. Chill out sweetie, you guys didn't even hook up, much less kiss." Dianna said soothingly.

Lea looked out the window, "I guess you're probably right. Lets think positive though! Its our first day of work!" Realizing they were almost pulling up to the set, Lea could feel her stomach drop. Why did she have to drink so much at the party? This was about to be the most painstakingly awkward first day of work.

After being escorted to her trailer, Lea was scheduled for makeup and hair. In the hall she ran into none other but Cory and Mark. "Well is it none other than our very own Barbra Jr." Mark said with a smile as he pulled her close to him in a hug.

"Hi there Mark," Lea said as she giggled still wrapped in his arms, not able to look at Cory if she tried. When Mark released her, Lea inhaled air back into her lungs that had been previously squeezed empty from the hug. It was then that she got a good look at Cory. His hair and skin looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower. Remembering scenes from the script for episode one, Lea realized he had probably just gotten done shooting his intro scene, singing in the shower.

_I bet he looks so sexy in that shower scene_, Lea's mind wandered. _NO NO NO_, she thought. She couldn't think like that. He was one hundred percent off limits.

He looked down at her with a half smile, not as powerful or happy as usual. It was like he was forcing it a little, Lea thought. She gave him an embarrassed and sheepish smile before quickly looking back to Mark.

"Well I'll catch up with you guys later, I've gotta get to makeup!" Lea said as she took a step away from them. "You better, dinner tonight?" Mark asked just before Lea turned away.

"Uh sure! Text me later," Lea said before finally continuing on her way. Again her mind wandered as the makeup artist was applying her foundation, _was Dianna wrong? She had to be, this was completely awkward. Had she done something to bother Cory, he basically had to force a smile…_ Whatever she had said or done when she was drunk, must have been bad.

The first scene Lea shot was her character's intro onto the show. Everything went absolutely perfect. Her next scene was a scene with Cory. _Great_, she thought. In this scene Rachel is talking to Finn (Cory) at his locker. Dianna happened to also appear in the scene, although her character despised Lea's. It was fun to get to work with Dee in the same scene, but she just had to learn how to not make the uncomfortable awkwardness between her and Cory show on camera.

She was put in quite an outfit, very Rachel-esque. It contained a black turtleneck paired with a patterned lime green and black plaid skirt. When Lea got to set, Cory was already there. "Hey Cory," Lea said trying to be casual. "Hey," he said with a smile that seemed a little more genuine than in the hallway earlier. "Nice outfit," he commented trying to lighten the tension, "although, personally I liked your black dress better." He finished with a wink.

With that Lea couldn't help but blush and laugh from embarrassment. "By the way, I'm sorry for how I acted at the party. That's really not me."

"Oh don't even worry about it, I had a fun night," he said in return. Cory and Lea's eyes were locked to each other the whole time. It was as if the outside world didn't exist when she was with him. The director was set and ready to shoot and Lea snapped into her Rachel Berry mode in an instant. Before she knew it the scene was over. One thing Lea knew for sure, their chemistry on screen was undeniable.

Dianna had stayed on set to watch the rest of the scene between Lea and Cory. She and Lea had made lunch plans for the free time after their scenes and before Lea had to get to the studio. "That's a wrap for this scene," the director said.

"Hey guys!," Dianna said as she seemed to bounce as she walked towards them.

"Hey Dee ready for some lunch?." Lea said, happy to see her friend.

Dianna smiled at Lea, "Of course! I'm starving! Care to join us Cory?"

"Nah I can't, got some things I need to do. But thanks, next time for sure! Its good to see ya though Dianna, what are the chances after all this time we would both be on the same show together?" said Cory.

"That's what I was just going to say!" Dianna let out a chuckle. "Ironic that our characters are dating too, isn't it?"

"Very," Cory added laughing at the irony. "Lets catch up soon." He smiled before giving Dianna a friendly hug.

As Cory walked away with a head nod to the girls, Dianna turned towards Lea and linked arms with her. "Now, how about that lunch?"

-(After lunch)-

Dianna and Lea made their way to the studio ready to record the song 'Don't Stop Believing.' They walked into the studio together into the viewing room seeing that fellow cast mates: Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, and Cory were already there. Chris and Amber had already recorded their parts and had stayed to view the rest of the song; Dianna joined in on the viewing even though she didn't have a part on the track. Two men sat on the control boards ready for Lea. One of them turned around, welcomed the girls, and asked which one was Lea.

"That's me!" Lea beamed, although a little nervous.

The man nodded his head, "Good, well we're going to put you and Cory in the booth and start from the top. We can first do a quick run through and then record the second take. Okay?"

Lea and Cory, standing side by side, turned their heads to look at each other and shrugged with a smile. At the same time they both replied "yeah."

"After you," Cory held open the recording box door with one hand and signaled her to go in front of him. "Why thank you," Lea replied and moved into the box. Cory followed and shut the door behind them.

The lead man on the control table pressed the overhead speaker button so that Lea and Cory could hear him, "Okay guys, I'm going to start it in two minutes so get settled."

"Ready for this?" Cory asked in a flirty voice.

"Oh I was born ready," Lea replied in a playfully sassy tone.

Cory raised his microphone stand so that he wouldn't have to hunch over to sing into it. While trying to lower Lea's stand it jammed and wouldn't budge any lower. "Well this wont work," Lea said looking upwards at her microphone. Cory found a metal box and put it in front of the stand. "This should do for now," he said with a hand reached out to help her up so she didn't fall.

Lea took it and stepped up. She still wasn't on Cory's eye level but it was closer. "What's it like being this tall all the time?" She said jokingly yet staying serious at the same time.

"Well what's it like seeing the world from down there all the time?" He teased back and gave Lea another wink.

Dianna looked in at Lea and Cory smiling at each other laughing. It was like they didn't care about what was going on around them when they spoke to each other. "Record the first take, trust me," Dianna told the man in charge of the board. She knew that they would kill it on the first take without any question.

Cory's part was first. _"Just a small town girl… Livin' in a lonely world…"_

Lea couldn't believe the voice that was coming from his mouth. It was almost orgasmic for her ears. She could listen to it all day. Then she realized her part was coming up.

"_Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit. He took the midnight train going anywhere."_

Throughout Lea's whole part, Cory couldn't help but become incapacitated in her voice. Every part of her performing memorized him. Her voice, her intensity, and her emotion exploded outwards as she belted out her part in the song.

They finished recording the first take and the man spoke over the loud speaker, "hey guys why don't you come back out here."

"Were we really that bad?" Lea said worriedly, "I thought we killed it."

Cory looked over to her in concern, "well if anyone was bad, it was me. You killed it. Seriously, that was amazing." He held out his hand to usher her down off the box as he went to open the door for her.

Nervously they stood in front of their audience still holding hands from when Cory helped her down and led her out of the box.

"That was perfect," the man said, "we're done for now on that song, but we'll go through and clean some parts up later." Everyone clapped and whistled. Lea looked up at Cory and exhaled in relief. He pulled her into a friendly half hug and Lea wanted nothing more to be completely wrapped in his arms.

"Wait," Cory said suddenly, "I thought that was just a practice round?"

Dianna piped in, "That was my doing. I had a feeling you guys would murder that song and I was right!"

Lea finally let go of Cory's hand and left the studio with her cast members. They all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways in the parking lot. Dianna decided to stay back and delay her leaving, so Cory and Lea could maybe get in a word or two.

"Really," Cory said, "you did great!"

"Right back at ya," Lea said smiling, "you have an amazing voice." _Was that too flirty?_ She thought to herself. _You can't be like that around him. He's Dianna's ex! Pull yourself together and watch how you're acting around him. The last thing you can do is lead him on or fall too hard._

He looked down at his feet with a smile on his face and Lea did the same.

"So…" Cory began, "what are you up to tonight?" He clearly had hopes on hanging out with his new cast mate.

"Oh I think I have a dinner date with Mark, or at least I've heard I do," she said laughing at how Mark seemed to always make her plans for her. Lea then realized a small drop in his smile of disappointment.

"How about you?" Lea asked making conversation.

"Nothing yet, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. See ya at work tomorrow by my locker?" he asked with a small grin.

"I'll be there," Lea said as she grinned back.


	7. Chapter 7: Don't You Want Me

The week seemed to breeze by. Lea absolutely loved everything about her job. Although she knew Cory could never be her special someone, he was already becoming one of her best friends. They teased each other and goofed around like they had known each other for years. It was already Friday and Mark invited Lea and the rest of the cast out to another party.

"You're going right?" Cory asked bright and early Friday at work.

"Well, Dianna can't go and I don't want to go alone," Lea said as she looked up at Cory.

"It's settled then, you're going with me," he smiled as he continued to look forward as he and Lea walked down the hallway.

The famous infectious laugh couldn't hold back. "Oh am I now," Lea said smiling up at the cocky looking Cory who looked down to make eye contact with her. "I guess I am then," Lea said as she broke eye contact with Cory and looked forward causing him to chuckle.

"Good," he replied with the biggest grin on his face, "I'll pick you up around nine-ish?"

The thought of Cory picking her up made her smile. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Realizing she sounded all too eager for a simple friend outing, she tried to tone down her expression. "Hopefully it will be a fun party- drama free you know…"

Remembering the rollercoaster of a night she had at the last party, Lea's nerves started to take over her excitement.

Sensing this Cory cut in to lighten the mood, "Oh I'm not going to let drama into this night. I'll promise you that. I think were both due for some fun." He winked at Lea.

He really needs to stop doing cute things like that, Lea thought. Although she didn't mind his flirty winks or cocky smiles, they just made it that much harder to resist the temptation to reciprocate.

* * *

><p>Before she knew it, it was time for Cory to pick her up for the party. This time she dressed more casual, down to her favorite plain jeans and a simple top. After they finally found somewhere to park Cory's red Ferrari, they headed towards the house. Cory held out his elbow for Lea to hold, "Ready?"<p>

Trying to keep her composure and not lose it over how cute she found him; Lea let out a giggle, grabbed his arm, and said, "I'm definitely ready for some fun!"

A group of people were standing out in the front lawn. The house appeared busy inside and out. Cory and lea walked towards the front door arm in arm joking about the height difference between them.

"Well if it isn't Lea Sarfati," one of the people standing in the lawn spoke as the boy, who looked as if he had let himself go, walked towards Lea partly intoxicated.

You've got to be kidding me, Lea thought. How does this keep happening to me? Her mind had been taken off him for once due to glee. The rest of the cast already was like a second family to her. Not once from the first day of her job had the memory of Theo been able to creep back to haunt her. As much as she tried to hate him, she couldn't. The crack in the dam of that memory block began to open as the feelings and emotions rushed closer to the surface.

Without a hesitation Cory stepped in front of Lea as if to shield her. "Back off dude, just leave her alone already."

"I'm not going to do anything, can I please just talk to her… Lea, please?" Theo asked. His eyes were no longer angry and cold; instead they had morphed to appear sad and sincere.

At that moment Lea allowed herself to step out from behind Cory and take a good look at the guy who used to have her heart. Theo looked rugged and destroyed. It was then that she realized that she was actually feeling bad for him, despite how he had ripped out her heart without care in the past. "What do you want Theo? What do you have to say to me?" Lea's voice began to crack as she spoke.

"I'm… I'm so sorry. I miss you Lee and I know that I don't even deserve you speaking to me for what I did," Theo said as he hung his head beginning to tear up, his efforts in keeping his emotions controlled were not succeeding.

She saw the pain on his face and remembered how much she had loved this caring and humble side of him. She took a step towards him while glancing up at Cory. "Just give me a second okay?"

As much as Cory didn't want to, he gave Lea a nod and cautiously watched the scene unveil. He knew he had no right to tell her what she should or shouldn't do and the last thing he wanted to do was upset her, so he did the only thing he could. Putting aside his uneasy gut feelings on the situation, Cory watched as Lea walked closer and closer to the dirt bag who didn't deserve her.

Lea crossed her arms, "I'm listening, but I'm not going to stand here forever Theo." Stay strong, she thought, Keep the power in the conversation… I can't break down tonight.

He looked into her warm brown eyes, "I was a jackass okay? I know you hate me, but do you ever think you could, I don't know, be able to forgive me? I love you Lea and I took you for granted and lost you. That's my fault, I know. I miss you so much Lea."

He had messed up in the past before and one thing Theo was good at was admitting his wrongs. Flashbacks of their past together fluttered through Lea's head and a tear started running down her cheek. "I... I can't get over this right now Theo. I loved you and I trusted you more than anyone I have ever known. And as much as I might want to, I can't hate you." She wiped another tear off her face, looking upwards to try to hold back the flood of tears that were about to flood down her face.

He grabbed her hands in his, causing Cory to flinch before turning away to try to give Lea her privacy and to keep his own cool.

"What can I do to make this better," Theo asked desperately, noticing Cory's protective stance.

Lea looked downwards at their hands, "I need space Theo and time for myself."

A tear ran down Theo's cheek before running into the crease of his mouth. His eyes tightened, cringing to stop himself from crying. "If that's what you want, I'll do it for you Lea. I can see you've moved on," he said as he motioned towards Cory. "If he can make you happy, then as much as it hurts I'll let you go."

She didn't argue, finding no need to explain her friendship with Cory. Theo was so wiling to let her go because of him, and Lea knew it was best to close that door with Theo without any doubts in his mind.

With her hands in his, Theo pulled Lea into an emotional and final hug. And that was it. Lea released herself, wiped her last tear, and turned her back on her ex-boyfriend.

"Are you okay?" Cory asked when Lea rejoined him. His eyes searched over her face to get any sign or signal. Worry covered his face as the possibility that she had taken Theo back rushed through his mind. All he cared about was her happiness.

"Yeah, just saying a necessary goodbye," she said as she looked up into his worried and caring expression. Trying to lighten the mood, Lea took her hand and playfully pushed Cory in the lower chest right above his abs. "Geez Cor, lighten up! Theo was scared you were going to beat him up or something with that stare of yours. I should just take you everywhere as my fake boyfriend. You'd be the best one for the job, no guy would mess with me," Lea said laughing.

"That'll cost ya," Cory responded, shrugging his shoulders and giving her that little crooked smile that Lea loved so much.

"Come on you big goof, lets go inside to the party," Lea said pretending her scene with Theo never took place. As she pushed the memory of him to the back of her mind, she focused her concentration on having a fun night with her friend.

They walked into the party, heading towards the kitchen to get some drinks and spotted Mark by the sink.

"Hey guys! Glad you came… Did you guys come together?" Mark said as his face expression didn't hide his unpleasant thoughts about them coming as a pair.

"Dianna ditched out on me…" Lea said as she looked up at Cory returning the smile he was giving her. "and I wasn't going to come alone.."

"So I stepped in as the best fake boyfriend Lea's ever had," Cory said finishing Lea's sentence. The two of them laughed and looked back at Mark who seemed a little disappointed at how well they got along.

After some competitive chugging and a few rounds of beer pong between the two boys, while Lea sat drinking margaritas watching, Cory and Mark were on their way to being smashed. If Lea was going to be one hundred percent truthful with herself she was well on her way also, but she wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. She deserved a careless evening filled with fun, the drama was over for the night.

Later in the night Mark and Lea were left alone in the living room while Cory was away getting another drink from the kitchen.

"So Streisand," Mark said leaning his arm against the wall hovering over Lea. "You having fun?"

"Why wouldn't I be?," Lea said giggling as she looked down at her drink, "this is reallly good! Aren't you having fun too?"

Mark laughed, "It's a party, of course its fun. I'm really glad I met ya and now that we get to work together, I was thinkin' we need to have each other's back. Don't you?"

Lea looked up at Mark while a drunken puzzled expression covered her face. "What do you mean? There somethin I should know?"

Mark had his chance and took full advantage. "I just don't want you getting hurt or your hopes up."

"For what?," Lea said acting dumb although she knew why Mark waited for this exact moment to bring it up. It had to be about the one person who had just left them, the guy she had been getting along so well with. The guy that, even though Mark had no way of knowing it, could never be Lea's.

"Listen," Mark said, "Cory's like a brother to me, so I usually know whats up. Just don't get your hopes up over him Lea. He's been spending a lot of time with Dianna lately, If you know what I mean." Although some may interpret it differently, Lea knew Marks words came out of concern. He was just looking out for her and trying to save her the pain of rejection.

Lea knew Dianna had been distant lately, but she just associated it with how busy they both were. It's final, Lea thought, she could never let it pass the friendship line. All the flirty behavior between her and Cory needed to end.

"Mark, I appreciate it but you have nothing to worry about. Cory and I are just friends and that's it. That's all it will ever be," Lea said as she downed the rest of her drink which made her sway a little.

"Whoa Streisand," Mark said laughing, "take your time, the drinks wont run out." With that the two of them joined Cory in the kitchen and Mark poured Lea another drink.

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><p>The party reached the point where a fresh crowd of party-goers revived the slowly dying event. By this time Mark joined in the new crowd acting as the undefeated opponent on the beer pong table.<p>

Lea and Cory were enjoying the night in their own little bubble in the living room. Lea had somehow convinced Cory to dance with her out of pure fun while they continued to drink and not care if others laughed.

"It's realllly crowded in here," Lea said giggling while she swayed her drink in the air.

Cory's knee decided to give out from under him, almost causing him to fall to the ground before he caught himself. "Whoa there, how bout we go sit somewhere?" Cory said slurring his words, smiling at Lea.

"Follow mee!," Lea said happily as she led the way stumbling through the crowd to the staircase. The second floor of the house seemed to be the best place to find somewhere more quiet. Holding Cory's hand, Lea led him up the stairs, down a hall, and into an empty room.

It was cozy but unused; most likely a guest bedroom. A king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room with golden tones of yellow and green on the comforter which matched the warm green color of the walls.

Lea stumbled in the room, landing on the huge bed, and spread herself out claiming the bed as hers. "ITS SO COMFY CORY!" Lea said, fascinated by the bed. "but its all mine. You'll just haveta deal with that couch over there," Lea said as she pointed across the room and smiled teasingly.

"Oh will I now?," Cory said, eyes dead locked on Lea. "Are you sure about that?" He said raising one eyebrow smirking at Lea locking the door behind him.

The room was silent for a moment. But it was not an awkward silence, because Cory and Lea seemed to be communicating by the looks they were giving each other.

Lea's thoughts were coming out stronger as ever now as she took a good look at Cory from head to toe. All of her barriers of their relationship blurred and melted away. Whether it was under the influence of drinking that night or her own heart, Lea was finally letting her guard down.

Cory took a step towards Lea and the bed, causing Lea to grin and bash her eyes at Cory.

He continued to the bed, not taking his eye's off Lea's. Cory sat onto the side of the bed. One hand was situated on the bed to the left of Lea's side, while he placed his other hand on the bed next to the right side of her body. Lea broke eye contact just to look at his arms that were now basically surrounding her, even though they were not in physical contact.

She memorized the veins in his arm, protruding from his skin. It was hard not to notice the perfection about them. She looked up back to Cory's eyes as he began to speak.

"You are so beautiful," he said keeping his eyes locked on hers, "and to answer your question from the last party… I want to."

It came back to her, the last piece of dialogue from that night where she told him he could kiss her. With her self-control at a minimum, she lost it. Her hand grabbed his arms as he leaned in closer towards Lea.

Cory hovered for a minute over Lea's face, looking deep into her eyes letting her react. She lifted her head slightly, wanting to feel his lips on hers. With her reaction, he lowered further to softly touch his lips to hers.

The softness in the kiss grew stronger as Cory's hands made contact with the side of Lea's hip. Her hands crept under his button up polo undoing the buttons as she went until she reached the top, pausing before her hands traveled upwards to run her fingers through his hair.

He grabbed her leg to pull it close to his body with one swift motion, his other hand trailing along side of her body underneath her shirt.

The voice of reason managed to come back to Lea, making her aware of what she was doing. I can't do this to Dee, she thought, especially after what Mark had said.

Reluctantly, she pulled away from his lips with a regretful expression on her face.

"What's wrong Lea?" Cory asked, nervous he had done something wrong.

"I… I can't do this. I have to go." She said as she slid out from under him and made her way towards the door.

She was at the door, a hand on the knob, back turned to Cory. Within a second Cory was off the bed standing right behind her with a hand on the door, stopping it from opening.

"Lea please just talk to me," he pleaded with her.

"Its complicated Cory… but we can't do this," Lea said on the verge of tears. She knew how much she wanted it to work. She had been foolish giving in to that desire. Never mind her own internal conflicts and still being broken over Theo, she felt as though she had betrayed her friend. The feeling of guilt was not one she could brush away. "Friendship is way more important to me and I can't mess that up any more than I already have…"

His hand slowly fell from the door as Lea turned around looking up into his eyes for one last glance. "Sorry," she said while giving him one last comforting touch to the outside of his forearm. He face was broken and confused. Not understanding the intent behind Lea's words, he seemed unable to find any words to say. Turning away from him, Lea opened the door before he could find his voice to speak again and left him standing in the room alone.


	8. Chapter 8: Pretending

Work was uncomfortable for the next few days that week. Lea avoided Cory as much as possible. Even staying away from him, pretending nothing had happened was painfully uncomfortable. It was during these times that she noticed more and more how Cory and Dianna were getting along _very _well.

Dianna had tried her best to get Lea to talk about the party, but each time Lea shrugged it off. The last thing Lea wanted to do was admit her slip with Cory. She couldn't help but believe there was something going on between them, even with Dianna denying it.

Lea knew they had to talk about it and couldn't lie to her best friend anymore, so on one of their breaks she worked up the courage to tell her at lunch.

"I'm sorry if I've been distant lately," Lea began nervously.

"Yeah what's up with that Lee? I noticed you've been avoiding me lately and Cory for that matter." Dianna said, trying to break the ice and get straight to the point. "You're my best friend Lee, you can tell me anything."

Lea smiled at Dianna, "I know I can Dee, I feel like such a bad friend. But I have to tell you something…"

"Spill sweetie," Dianna said with a giggle, "obviously its bothering you, you'll feel better if you just get it out in the open… whatever it is."

Exhaling, she began to tell her story. "I may or may not have made out with Cory that night… BUT I stopped it right away and left." Lea's eyes started to water, afraid of how hurt Dianna would be. "It.. it didn't mean anything Dee and I'm so sorry." She glanced into Dianna's eyes and looked down at her hands.

Dianna seemed to find it amusing. "What's to be sorry about Lea? I told you the past is the past. I just want you to be happy. Cory and I are just friends, you know that right?"

_There was no way they are just friends,_ Lea thought to herself. _The only reason Dianna would say that to her was because she thought that Lea liked him. _However if it would ever to happen, it would have happened with Cory. The only way to get Dianna off this track of thinking was to find a way to totally deny it without question. Her mind and words that followed were at war with each other.

"I know you guys are just friends," _Lie._ "Cory and I are just friends though and I don't think of him as anything _but_ that," _Lie._ "After seeing Theo again and him apologizing so sincerely, I'm not sure if I'm over him yet…"

There was a pause while Lea and Dianna took in the realization on the last thing Lea said.

"I love you Lea, but for your own sake I think you need to try to forget him, because you're never going to be able to forget about what he did. Even if you could patch things up with him in the future, you'll always be worried it would happen again." Dianna was so good at speaking from her heart and comforting Lea.

"With all this craziness in my life right now, I need to focus on work you know? I'm just so happy to have gotten this job and I don't want to mess it up." Lea was relieved everything was finally out in the open.

It was time to get back on set. Lea and Dianna walked arm in arm from the trailer to set together. The distance that was previously between them had vanished.

Cory was waiting for Dianna because they were in the first scene up. Lea watched as Dianna skipped over towards Cory. She couldn't help her thoughts from taking over what she has just been reassured against. _They looked natural together, the chemistry would always be there_, Lea thought. _He made her smile so brightly and his focus on her had something else behind it other than friendship._ Lea was sure of it.

He looked over, noticing Lea was standing there watching and smiled, nodding his head upwards. It was impossible for her not to return a half-smile.

The first take involved a kissing scene between Quinn and Finn. _Great,_ Lea thought. Watching from a distance, flashbacks of her kiss with Cory kept popping up in her mind. She was straight out jealous of Dianna, but knew it was her duty as a friend to suffer in silence.

The scene ended and Lea started walking back to the back hallway to get a bottle of water from the break room.

"Hey wait up," Cory said hurrying towards Lea and the hallway. She turned her head smiling and paused for him to catch up.

"Hey," Lea said trying to sound like she hadn't been avoiding him for the past few days. "How have you been?"

"Oh you know, busy." Cory said trying to break the tension between them. "Look," he said calmly as they walked together, "we're cool right? I mean what happened in that guest bedroom…"

Lea cut him off "…already forgotten and behind us," she said smiling up at Cory. "I mean we're friends and adults and it didn't mean anything, so lets just put it behind us."

"Okay then," Cory said automatically, "glad we talked… I've missed hanging around with you on set these last few days."

Lea giggled, "yeah, I've missed goofing around with you too."

They paused in the break room and locked eyes, smiling at each other in quietness. She had definitely missed that face and his golden sultry eyes.

"I've got to go find Mark, but I'm happy we cleared the air." Cory said with one of his one-sided smiles.

"Me too," Lea said warmly, "Meet you around your locker later for our scene?"

With that Cory laughed, moving his head down and closer to Lea. "I'll be there."

He wrapped his arms around her as she folded hers around his waist._ A hug like this could easily wash away any of her troubles_, she thought. The friendly embrace ended as they separated and went their separate ways.

The day ended and the rest of the week passed by. Lea and Cory were able to act normal around each other again. However, Lea found herself confused around him at times. He would seem to be overly flirty around Lea, where she had to watch herself and how she acted in return; or he would be talking to Dianna and making plans for them to spend time together.

She put all efforts into being happy when she found out of Dianna's and Cory's plans, but it was exhausting. Lea wanted to be the only one he wanted to go out to dinners with or spend nights just hanging out. But the proof was there, it was undeniable. Cory and Dianna hung out frequently and they were obviously really close from the way they acted.

Since the party, not once had it just been Cory and Lea hanging out together after work hours. Although Cory had asked once or twice to grab some food, Lea was usually busy or pretended to be. Until Dianna and Cory put the label on their relationship, Lea was determined not to get in the middle of it. If she messed up her friend's happiness, she could never forgive herself.

The end of the week was approaching and Lea's plans for the weekend were wide open. Dianna had mysteriously cancelled their plans for Saturday dinner and moved it to Friday without giving Lea an explanation.

_Hmm maybe I'll see what Mark is up to,_ Lea thought. Although not hurt by Dianna's reschedule, she was curious of her reasons.

"Mark!," Lea exclaimed when she saw him in front of the studio.

"Hey Streisand, What's up?" He replied smoothly, but clearly excited to see Lea.

"Oh not much," Lea replied with a smile, "I was wondering though… what are your plans for the weekend?"

Mark looked down in interest, "Nothing yet, why?"

With the news of his open schedule, Lea was hopeful her weekend wouldn't end up with her sitting at home with her kitten.

"Well, my Saturday date has been cancelled…" said Lea.

Curious of what kind of date she was talking about, Mark started to pry. "Well I'd be happy to fill that slot in your weekend, it would have to be a lunch though, my parents are visiting that night."

"Great!" Lea said with a hug smile which made Mark's face brighten.

"So who ditched on you?" He said curiously, hoping not to upset her.

Lea started laughing, "oh it was just Dee. Don't worry Mark it's not Theo or anybody like that." She said teasingly.

"Just watching your back," Mark said in relief.

"Well thanks buddy, yeah she switched to Friday instead. Guess something came up," Lea said explaining herself. "Probably a hot date," she joked.

Mark's face went blank for a moment, not sure if he should say something or not. "Not that its any of my business, but I was just talking to Cory and he couldn't come to dinner with my parent's because he was going out to dinner with Dianna."

Lea tried not to show her emotions on her face, but was sure her face was transparent. _It was a hot date_, Lea thought. _No wonder why she didn't give a reason for moving their dinner date up a day. _She gathered herself knowing that she had to be okay and happy for them.

"Huh…" Lea forced out in response, "Geez she ditched me for a boy." She said sarcastically.

"So not cool," Mark teased. "But lunch on Saturday sounds fantastic. I'll text you later about it?"

"Sounds good! I'm excited now!" Lea said trying to make Mark forget about her momentary pause in response to the news on Cory and Dianna's dinner date.

_Maybe Mark and her could work together,_ Lea's mind wandered. _He seemed to like her… Maybe if Lea let herself to be more open around him, he could see her as more than a friend. She deserved to be happy too and it was about time she opened herself up to more possibilities. _

Sitting on set in the break room was quiet. No one else was in there with her, so when she noticed a familiar face come through the door she smiled, happy she would have someone to talk to.

Cory sat down in the chair next to her. "Hey there Ms. Berry," he said as he smiled, gazing into her eyes.

"Nice of you to join me Mr. Hudson," she answered back, making eye contact with him. He never failed to make her smile and giggle.

"So, what's your weekend looking like?" Cory asked in a hopeful tone.

"Oh you know, many star appearances and signings. Oh and a meeting with Barbra," Lea said keeping the conversation playful.

Cory raised the left side of his face into a smile as one eyebrow raised. "well, what would you say if I told you I made dinner reservations Saturday night at breadsticks?"

He was killing her. Her heart was yelling at her to go and have a good time, but her mind was thinking about Dee.

Trying to be a good friend without flat out rejecting Cory, Lea said the quickest thing she could come up with. "I'd say I'm sure Dianna would love to go."

His face dropped. The playful tone to the conversation had gone. "I was more wondering if you could pencil me into that busy schedule of _yours_?"

This whole time, Cory and Lea had not broken eye contact. His eyes were soft and caring not once did they harden, even when she didn't say yes.

"Look Cory," Lea began, knowing that it was time for her to give him a reason why she couldn't go with. "I can't…"

He cut her off, "I know you say you can't, but why not? Please just give me a reason."

"I couldn't help but notice you and a certain friend of mine here on set getting pretty close and I just… I can't get in the way of that. You understand right?" Lea said worriedly. The last thing she wanted to do was make him think that she didn't want to be his friend.

He shook his head in realization, "You just don't get it do you? Its not Dianna I want to be with. Its not Dianna I'm constantly thinking of. Its not Dianna that I have feelings for…" He paused, "It's you Lea. You're the one who I don't want to be without. Ever since I saw you that first time, I've prayed for a miracle that you would someday be mine."

Cory sighed putting his face in his palms. "I didn't go out to dinner with Dee on a date, _geez_ Lea I've been hanging out with her because I needed help. I needed advice on _you_. She skipped the party that night because she wanted to give me a chance to take you myself. Dianna's just been a friend helping me out. I needed to know what my chances with you were before I ruined everything by chancing it and saying all this."

Lea's jaw dropped slightly in shock. "Cory I…"

"I didn't want it to happen this way. I know I've changed everything now, and can tell by the look on your face that you don't feel the same way. But Lea our friendship is important to me. Please just promise me we can still be friends?" Cory's face had not left his palms.

Listen to me," Lea said taking his hands in hers and removing them from his face. "I'm sorry."

Cory looked at her in confusion, "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I do though, you need to know something Cor," Lea said nervously, her voice shaking. "I like you a lot… you're always on my mind and all I want to do is be with you. But I'm scared and confused… There I said it."

She looked away from his face an down to her lap, "I've never felt so comfortable with anyone else, especially so fast. You'll never lose me Cory, ill always be there for you. But the other night at the party freaked me out, I just wasn't ready for something like that."

Cory looked up, his face shocked at the words he was hearing. His eyes with a painful expression waiting for the letdown words that were sure to come next.

Lea continued in the pause, "I just couldn't tell you any of that because, Well Dianna's my friend. And I thought… well, you know."

"Take a chance on me," Cory's eyes pleaded. He had just put everything on the line and was not ready for a rejection from the girl he cared for.

Lea's mind was taken over by her heart. There was nothing holding her back now that she knew the truth, "Can we just take things slow? I just don't want to go too fast and ruin this."

His face lightened up in relief, "Of course we can take things as slow as you want. I just want to be with you Lea." He leaned inwards and kissed her on the lips without fear of rejection.

"So about that dinner Saturday night?," Cory said with a smirk.

"I _guess_ I can pencil you in," Lea said teasingly as he took her hand in his own. "Lets keep it a secret for now though, I'd rather we see where this goes before everyone else does… Are you okay with that?"

"Lea, I'd be okay with anything," He said as he pulled her close to him.

She was right where she had wanted to be for so long. Now she didn't need an excuse to be wrapped in his arms. He was finally hers.


	9. Chapter 9: Candles

Bright and early, Lea got to set on Friday excited for the weekend. Dianna had just parked her car when Lea arrived. "Hey Lee! Ready for our dinner at my house tonight?" Dianna called as she walked towards Lea.

"I'm super excited! By the way Dee I have some exciting news for you." Lea smiled innocently with her hands folded behind her back. "Yesterday I got asked out on a date," she continued holding back her excitement.

"By a certain tall boy we work with named Cory?" Dianna said with a huge grin on her face.

"He told you?" Lea said angrily that her friend already knew. She crossed her arms and sighed in disappointment.

"Of course he did Lea, I've been encouraging him to do it this whole time! Trust me babe, that boy is already head over heels for you. He just needed some advice. I've told you Lee we're just friends… do you understand that now?" Dianna burst out hysterically, "sometimes you can be so stubborn."

"Funny, I've heard that before," Lea said sarcastically. She paused, "head over heels for… me?"

"Dianna looked back and frowned at Lea's disbelief. "YES. Seriously Lee, we can't talk without your name being brought up."

Lea could not hold back her smile. "Apparently we're having dinner Saturday night." Her cheeks started to become sore from smiling, "did he tell you his plans for the date?"

"Oh Lea dear," Dianna said teasingly, "I'm not going to spoil it for you! I promised I wouldn't! Plus… I might have given a tip or two." Dianna walked forward towards set smirking while leaving Lea in her trail.

"Hey now," Lea yelled as she caught up to her friend, "you can't do that to me!" Realizing Dianna wasn't going to let any details slip, she gave up frustrated.

The work day went by faster than ever as most days did. The fact that Lea enjoyed work so much contributed a lot to it.

* * *

><p>Finally Saturday night arrived. Standing in her bedroom Lea put on a romantic and classy looking ruby red dress. It had thin straps and went down to her mid-thigh in length. It wasn't overly fancy, but just enough for a dinner at a nice restaurant. She threw her hair up into a simple loose bun, letting her bangs drape over her face. When she finished getting ready and putting on her pair of gold heels, she let out a sigh.<p>

As she waited patiently, she started pacing and fidgeting. In her mind so much depended on the outcome of this first date. He had promised her they would take things slow. One things for sure, this was important. She was worried it would affect her job if things went sour.

After much convincing, Cory let Lea drive over to his house before dinner. She jumped in her car and made her way over to his house. By the time she got there her stomach was in knots.

She parked and made her way to the front door. When he answered she couldn't help but smile. He was all dressed up in a black suit with a tie. Her heart started beating faster from the first sight of him. Oddly, instead of making her more worried, it soothed her. The knots released in her stomach and she was able to breathe again.

"Hi," Lea said warmly as her heart still fluttered.

"You look amazing," he said as he admired her dress and the beautiful woman who was wearing it.

"Thanks," Lea said blushing. "So, when are we going to dinner? I'm starving!"

He smiled, "actually I have a surprise for you, we're eating here." Cory paused watching Lea's confused reaction.

"But then why did we get all dressed up and… _wait_. You made us dinner?" Lea's eyes widened in awe. Boy did she love a man who could cook.

"Yea I did, but don't get your hopes up too high. I'm no chef." Cory looked down modestly.

"I'm sure it will be delicious," Lea said reassuringly.

Cory pulled out one of his half-smiles. "Well then," he said holding out his hand, "come with me."

She giggled taking his hand, her cheeks still red from smiling so much. He led her through the hallway and out the sliding glass door to his back porch. It was breathtaking. A table set for two was decorated with full plate settings and candles. Music was softly playing in the background and lights hung over head on the rafters above. The stars and night sky peaked through between the lights.

"Oh my god Cory, this is…" She paused to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "This is beautiful. You did all this for me?"

"So you like it then?" he said as he held out a single red rose for her with his hand that wasn't holding Lea's.

She was taken back by the set up, "I _love_ it." She took the rose from him and breathed in its beautiful scent.

He pulled out the chair for her and helped her scoot in. "I'll be back with dinner in a moment then."

Lea Looked up smiling and nodded. This place looked like a paradise to her. It was the most romantic thing a person had ever done for her. Theo's idea of a fancy dinner was a polo shirt, tie, and jeans at a relatively cheep restaurant. She had always dreamed for a date like this one.

Cory came out of the house carrying two huge bowls and two little bowls. Placing two in front of Lea and the others on his placemat, he sat down to join Lea. She looked down at the food he had prepared.

It contained penne pasta with sauce on top and a slice of garlic bread on the side. The little bowls contained small salads.

Cory grabbed the wine bottle sitting on the table, opened it, and filled both of their glasses.

Lea's jaw dropped slightly open as she looked up from her food to Cory. "This is my absolute favorite meal! Wait… is my garlic bread frozen?" She paused, "DIANNA."

"Yeah, I'll admit it. I got a little advice on food you like. But that's it I swear. I was already planning on making pasta and using easy pre-made Classico pasta sauce." Cory looked down at the food. "I told you, its not really much."

Lea burst out laughing. Cory looked up at her confused and depressed that she thought all of his work was a joke. "You don't understand," Lea began to explain herself, "this is the best dinner date I have ever been on. You didn't have to go through all this trouble for me. Seriously Cory, I love it."

They finished their dinner and continued their conversation drinking wine under the stars. "What do you say we have a proper dance for once?," Cory asked, his voice was smooth and soft.

"I thought you didn't like to dance," Lea said playfully.

"Well tonight, I thought I'd make an exception." Cory stood up and held out a hand for her.

His adorable gestures and smile made her weak at her knees. She took his hand as he led her away from the table to the other side of the patio. His arms wrapped around her waist while hers wrapped around his neck.

Lea didn't realize how long they had been swaying back and forth to the music under the night sky, but she didn't care. Everything in that moment felt right.

"I'm really glad I'm here right now," Lea said quietly looking up at Cory.

He smiled down at her. "You don't know how happy I am that you said yes to a date." She smiled resting her head on his chest.

He hugged her tighter. "Ever since I first saw you I knew that this is where I wanted to be with you."

"I know what you mean," Lea said softly, "I couldn't stop thinking about you… Cory, that night I'm sorry I left you. I just thought you and Dianna were back together and I couldn't do that to my friend."

"I know," Cory said as Lea listened to his heart beating. "That's what I like so much about you, how much you care about others. And I know that we've only known each other for a short time, but I want to make this work."

They stopped dancing and stood still as Lea looked up into his sincere eyes. Her pause was cut off by Cory. "Take a chance on me," he said as his eyes shifted back and forth between hers.

Her heart won out in the end, and she nodded yes. "Does this mean I no longer have a fake boyfriend?" Lea said jokingly.

"Afraid he's now your full time boyfriend," Cory said smiling down at her. "And I," he said as he pulled her closer to him, "have a pretty hot looking girlfriend."

"Oh stop that," Lea said still joking, pushing his chest lightly.

"I think this is the moment in those romantic comedies where I kiss you," Cory said nodding his head.

"I think you might be right," Lea said crinkling her nose with her smile, moving closer to his face.

Cory sweetly pressed his lips to hers, closing any spaces between them. The scruff on his face tickled her lips and she could still taste the sweet reminisce of wine on his breath. Slowly their lips parted and eyes opened to see each other again.

Lea looked over at the dishes, "let me help you clean up."

"You're out of your mind if you think you're going to do dishes," Cory said matter-a-fact-ly.

"Well, if this was JUST a date, I'd maybe agree. But now that I'm your _girlfriend_ you're wrong. Girlfriends can help with dishes you see," Lea said nodding her head. She liked the sound of that word… _girlfriend._

He sighed shaking his head at how cute his girl was and let her take the dishes inside to the kitchen with him. He loaded the dishwasher with as many dishes as he could and was left with only a few to hand wash.

Lea started the water, filling the sink with warm water and soap. She began washing a plate and Cory crept up behind her. Putting his arms around her waste, he hugged her from behind.

"And what do you think you are doing," Lea said as she tilted her head looking at Cory's face.

"Just helping out, since you wont let me wash the dishes." Cory said, not letting go.

She took her hand out of the soapy water, keeping some bubbles on her hand, and touched his nose leaving suds behind.

"Oh that's how your going to play now?" Cory said as he grabbed bubbles of his own from the sink and touched Lea's nose. Her mouth took an oval shape as she acted like she was shocked. They both laughed as he grabbed a towel and cleaned the suds off both their noses. He then proceeded to kiss her on the cheek as she returned to finish the dishes.

When all cleaning up was done, he walked her out to her car. "I really wish you had let me come pick you up," Cory said half-smiling, half-pouting.

"Why's that?" Lea asked curiously.

"Because then I would still have another fifteen or so minutes with you tonight." He said giving her a warm hug.

Her cheeks turned red again as she smiled and shook her head back and forth. "Well don't I have quite a cheesy boyfriend, but I'll let you in on a little secret, I love it." She said with one final squeeze in the hug before she walked over to the drivers side of the car.

Cory opened the door for Lea, not wanting to let her go. "Do me a favor? Let me know when you get home so I know you're safe?" Cory said with one of his half-smiles. "I will, thanks for such a great night," Lea said turning on her car. He shut the door and waved as he watched her leave.

From her rear-view mirror, Lea watched Cory begin to walk back to his house waiting till she was out of site to go inside. _This was the best date she had ever been on and without a doubt, she had the best boyfriend in the world._


	10. Chapter 10: Keep Holding On

Lea woke up abruptly on Monday morning excited to begin her day at work. Instead of making her own coffee this morning she had decided to stop and pick some up at Starbucks on the way to work. She got dressed for the day, grabbed her keys, and got into her car.

Turning the key, an unfriendly clicking noise screeched out. It wasn't turning over. _Crap_. What was she supposed to do now? Dianna wasn't shooting this morning and the sun wasn't even up. Leaving her to the only other number that she could think of, the only other person she knew would be awake and help her.

*ring ring*

"Hello?" Cory answered on the other line. Sounds of city traffic echoed in the background.

"Hey, have you already gotten to set yet?" Lea said frustrated.

"Just leaving now, what's up babe?" he said sensing Lea's tone.

"My car wont turn over, I think it's the transmission. Do you think you could give me a ride to work?" Sitting in her car with her head slumped on her steering wheel, Lea could not imagine how the day could get any worse.

"Sure, I'll be there in a minute, just hold tight!" He said, hanging up the phone after a quick thank you from Lea.

He pulled into her driveway and spotted Lea sitting against the garage door. She got into the passenger seat and looked over to Cory's smiling face. "I got you something," he said waiting for Lea to realize what it was.

"Thank you for picking me up," Lea said, still in a bad mood as she buckled her seatbelt. It was then that she smelled it. The fresh smell of the coffee that she desperately wanted. "Is that for me?" She looked at the coffee cup sitting in the cup holder and then up to Cory.

"Yeah I figured you could something to pick you up. Well, in addition to me." He said looking forward at the road.

"You are perfect, you know that?" She said with a smile. He had made her day better already. "I'll just deal with that bad luck charm later, what's more important now is how are we going to explain going to work together?"

Cory looked over at Lea, "you're worrying about nothing. Your car broke and you needed a ride. Friends," he winked, "give other friends rides."

She giggled, "I guess you're right. No staring at my ass on set though, friends don't do that."

"Geez," Cory joked, "I can't even appreciate how beautiful my girlfriend is at work? Rough."

She pushed his arm lightly, "They'll know eventually, then you can 'appreciate' all you want." The smile had not left her face since he put it there. They pulled up to set and parked. Walking into set, Lea had to cross her arms to make sure she didn't accidently hold Cory's hand that was temptingly dangling in between them.

Mark was under the weather over the weekend and canceled their lunch date, leaving Lea wondering if she was going to see him at work later. Around lunch time, Dianna arrived to set and bee-lined straight to Lea who was talking to another cast member named Heather.

"I need to borrow you Lee, I believe we have some things to talk about," Dianna said rapidly, leaving Lea to tell Heather she'd catch up with her later. "Spill," Dianna blurted out in excitement, once they had reached a quiet corner.

"It was incredible Dee, one of the most romantic dates I've ever been on. Seriously It was absolutely perfect!" Lea tried her best to keep her voice down so that no one could overhear.

"I'm so happy for you Lee! You have to tell me the rest of the details later, I'm due on set." Dianna smiled in satisfaction that her plan had succeeded in getting them together.

"One last thing Dee, I'm telling you because you're my best friend and I could never keep anything from you, but you can't tell anyone. I know its fast, but… he asked me to be his girlfriend last night and I just have this good feeling about things this time." Lea's words spilled out of her mouth.

Dianna wrapped her arms around Lea. "All that's important is that you're happy, which makes me happy too." She released her friend and hurried off to set.

With time to spare, since she was done filming for the day and was just waiting till Cory finished to give her a ride back, Lea hung out in her trailer. Within ten minutes someone came knocking on her door.

Pleasantly surprised by her visitor, she knew him visiting her looked suspicious. "What are you doing here Cory!" she said as she hurried him inside and shut the door. He wrapped his arms around her, finally getting to hold her without worrying about others seeing. The warmth of the hug was just what Lea needed, being in his arms felt amazing. Releasing her, he answered her question. "I've wanted to do that all day," Cory said smiling down at Lea.

"I needed that," she said returning the smile. "but what if someone saw you coming to my trailer!"

"I was sneaky," he said jokingly, "now, lets go fix your car problem."

Lea sighed, "I don't even know what to do. I'll have to call a stupid tow truck to bring it to a mechanic and who knows how expensive that will be." She covered her face with her hands not wanting to think about her car.

Cory took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her again, so that her arms were pressed against his chest. "Maybe not," he said trying to comfort her. "I know a thing or two about cars, so I'll take a look at it first."

Lea uncovered her face to look at Cory's. "My man knows how to fix a car?" she said biting her tongue while smiling.

"Oh I'm an expert," he teased, "and since you're my beautiful girlfriend, my services wont cost you a dime… or actually just keep that smile on your face and that will be more than enough of a payment."

Laughing at her dorky boyfriend, she realized how much she appreciated having him to help her. Teasing him back, Lea bit her lower lip, "I'll make it up to you somehow," she said as she winked.

He lifted her up and inch off the ground, tickling her sides as she was in the air. "Stop it! STOP CORY PLEASE," Lea said in uncontrollable laughter. He let her down gently.

"Should we get going then?" Cory said moving towards the door.

"Whatever my mechanic wishes, but I'll go first to make sure no ones looking!" Lea said as she darted in front of Cory to get to the door first.

They made it to the car undetected and speeded to Lea's place. Her car was parked on the street outside of her house.

"Let's have a look shall we?" Cory said as he lifted the hood and stripped down to his undershirt and jeans.

Lea couldn't help but admire his muscular arms and how extremely sexy he looked working with tools. Grease covered his hands as he inspected the motor. After awhile he finally spoke up, "I think I found the issue, you need a new spark plug babe. Easy to buy, and I'll put it in to save you the cost of manual labor."

"Thank you so much," Lea said relieved it was just a simple fix.

"Now come give your man a smooch," he said holding out his greasy hands teasingly. "Ew no! Get those greasy hands away from me!" She said backing up as Cory took a step towards her.

It was then when it happened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a car racing down the street towards them. Cory grabbed Lea's arm and pulled it in to him, away from the street. Lea, caught off guard, was thrown off balance while being pulled out of the way of the car. The grease on Cory's hand made his grip on her too slippery to hang on.

Her arm slipped out of Cory's hand as she fell to the ground aside of her car, smacking her head on the curb. He looked down mortified, "LEA… LEA are you okay," he kneeled taking her in his arms, panicking at the sight of the bleeding wound on the side of her head. She wasn't responding.

Cory scrambled to dig his phone out of his pocket to dial 911 for an ambulance. His hands were now covered in a mixture of grease and Lea's blood. Tears flooded down his face, "Lea its going to be alright, help is coming sweetie just stay with me. Please Lea, I'm right here. Just hang in there," His voice cracked as he spoke.

He road in the ambulance with her to the hospital when it arrived. His whole body shook at the sight of Lea's unconscious body on the stretcher. Sitting in the waiting room shaken, his body was paralyzed in fear. Dianna arrived in a matter of minutes after a traumatized call from Cory.

"How is she doing?" Dianna said rushing in to the waiting room.

"They haven't told me yet, Dianna what am I going to do? What if she doesn't make it through this?" He buried his face in his palms.

She sat next to him and touched his hand, pulling it away from his face. "It's not your fault Cory."

"YES IT IS, I should have had a better grip on her!" he said shouting and standing up.

"YOU SAVED HER FROM BEING HIT BY A CAR CORY," she shouted back as she also stood and then quieted her voice, "she wouldn't have survived that."

Dianna tried to reach out, putting her arms around Cory until he finally gave up trying to be strong and stopped resisting the hug. Cory pulled Dianna in closer, squeezing her in the embrace as he let the tears drain down onto his face.

They let go of each other and Cory wiped his face, trying to dry away the tears. "I know it sounds crazy, because we just began dating and I haven't known her for long… but I just… just being with her is just… she's just…" He could not figure out how to express his feelings, much less form words anymore.

"Cory, I know. And trust me when I tell you that she's crazy about you too. I've never seen her so happy."

He let out a pitiful half smile as the attending nurse came out to talk to them. She led them into the room to see Lea. She was lying there, head bandaged and eyes closed not moving, but she was breathing.

"She appears to have sustained a pretty severe concussion," the lady began to tell them, "but we wont know more about the severity until she wakes up." After a few more minor details about her condition, the nurse left Dianna and Cory alone in the room. They both stared at Lea from the sides of the bed in silence.

"I've got to go call her parents and some other people," Dianna said sadly as she made her way to the door, "I'll be back soon."

Cory pulled up a chair next to Lea's bed and held her hand. The tears dripped off his face as he tried to talk to her.

"It's me Lea, it's Cory. I'm… I'm so sorry," he sniffled, "You need to wake up okay? I know we've only know each other for a short time and I just got the courage to ask you out, but I'm absolutely crazy about you Lea. You're unlike any girl I've ever been with and its killing me to see you like this. Please Lea… _Please._" He could not control his breathing anymore as he began hyperventilating and crying harder.

Her face did not move an inch, as he looked at the bandages covering her wound around her skull. Picking up her hand in his, he kissed it lightly before setting it back down beside her. Joining his own hands together, Cory did the only other thing he could do: pray.


	11. Chapter 11: You Keep Me Hangin

Dianna returned to Lea's room to find Cory by Lea's side as expected. "I called pretty much everyone and they'll be dropping by soon. I told them I was with her and that I called you to come help fix her car. I just know you and Lea were keeping it quiet and I… I was just trying to help." She looked down apologetically.

"Thank you, I just don't think I can explain what happened over and over." Cory said still staring at Lea. "What about her parents?"

Dianna joined Cory on the side of the bed, "They're stuck in New York, trying to get a flight but won't be here till tomorrow at the earliest."

Chris and Mark arrived to the hospital first, rushing into the room. "Jesus Christ… Lea," Mark said as he stared down at her and the bandages. Seeing the look of devastation in Cory's eyes, he gestured for his friend to join him out in the hallway.

Away from the other cast members who had also just arrived to the hospital, Cory finally broke down. "Mark I don't know what I'm going to do," Cory said looking at the wall and avoiding Mark's eyes. Mark pulled Cory into a hug patting his back in support.

"You really like her don't you," Mark said patting Cory's shoulder.

"More than you know dude, more than you know." Cory said looking down, trying his best to keep his promise to Lea to not out their relationship.

"It's going to be okay. She's going to be okay, you hear me? Don't even think otherwise, you got me?" Mark said comforting his friend. Cory nodded as he rubbed his eyes with one hand. They joined the rest of their friends who had been sent back into the waiting room, due to the nurse's rule of the number of visitors Lea was allowed at one time. Time passed slowly as quietness filled the room.

Dianna spoke up first, "all of you guys don't need to stay here for the night. Honestly go home and get some sleep, I'll call if anything changes."

Cory was the second to speak, "I'll stay with you Dee, the nurse says its fine for two of us to stay in her room tonight." Dianna smiled slightly as she knew his true motives behind it. Knowing that the rest of the cast knew Cory had been her friend since a long time ago, they thought nothing of it. Friendly hugs were exchanged as everyone but Dianna and Cory left.

The hours passed as did the night, until it was the wee hours of the morning. Dianna was slumped over a chair in the corner sleeping, while Cory sat on a desk chair next to Lea's bed. His head sat on her bed next to her hand as he struggled to stay awake. Just when he was about to give in to allow a little sleep, her hand twitched.

"Le-Lea? It's me Cory, I'm right here." His body froze as he hoped she would move again.

"Cory," she mumbled twitching her head.

"Yes babe, I'm right here," Cory said as Lea opened her eyes for the first time. "Thank God you're okay."

Dianna woke up hearing their voices and ran to get the head nurse. As Lea was examined, Cory and Dianna stood in the waiting room. Finally the nurse came to give an update.

"Lea is alert, which is good. She seemed to have suffered minimal damage. Except for some bruising and swelling that should heal and go down, Lea should be absolutely fine. We're just going to watch her closely to make sure she's healing properly. However, I must warn you that while she was unconscious, she had a vision of her life that she believes is true right now. In my professional opinion, I believe she's just in shock. Basically the part of her brain that controls imagination went into overdrive. Once she comes out of shock, she should be able to understand the difference between reality and her vision." The nurse looked down at her clipboard. "You can go see her now, but just be cautious and gentle when speaking to her, just don't stress her brain to remember specific details. She needs to take it easy."

Cory was still freaking out and Dianna picked up on his fear. "How 'bout I go see her first and then let you know what to expect. We should probably go one at a time at first so she doesn't freak out anyway," Dianna said trying to be strong.

"Yeah… that would probably be better. I need a minute to pull myself together." Cory said beginning to pace around the room.

Dianna slowly entered Lea's room, approaching the bed cautiously. "Lea, how are you feeling sweetie?"

Lea slowly tilted her head to look at Dianna standing next to her. "My heads pounding."

"I bet it is, you took quite a hit to your head," Dianna said as gentle as she could.

"Why am I here? The last thing I remember is being at home and the test showed I was pregnant and everything was happy again. he told me how happy he was to be the father of my child and have me as his wife… and then the next thing I remember is being here in the hospital Dee. Where did he go?" Lea looked at her friend in confusion, wanting an explanation on what she didn't remember in between.

Dianna was in shock; she tried her best not to show it in her face. _So this is what she had imagined. A happy life with a husband and a baby on the way_, Dianna thought. She had a very good idea of who the husband was.

"Just rest for now sweetie, it will all come back soon," Dianna said trying to reassure Lea. They continued to discuss parts of this alternate reality that Lea believed in, until Lea started asking for Cory. Dianna left Lea, happy that her friend was alive, and re-gained the pacing Cory in the waiting room.

"How is she?" Cory questioned dying to know how his girlfriend was doing.

"She's good Cor, she can speak clearly and move her head just fine." Dianna said with a smile.

"Thank god," Cory exhaled in relief, "Is she ready to see me then?"

Dianna tensed up, "I need to warn you first. Lea thinks… well…."

"Spit it out Dianna, I know what the nurse said about a vision. I can take it, just come out with it." Cory said frantically.

"Okay," Dianna continued calmly, "She thinks that you two are married."

"Married?... Am I supposed to just go with it? I don't want to stress her out." Cory asked desperately, his mind trying to grasp the concept.

Dianna took a deep breath and continued, "she also thinks she just found out that she's pregnant… Just take a moment to breathe Cory, it's going to be okay," she paused reassuringly, "When you go in there don't deny or confirm this 'marriage' concept and simply respond with how much you care for her. You can do this Cory."

His mind was spinning as he walked to Lea's room gathering his thoughts. Dianna made a round of phone calls, updating everyone on the news.

The sight of her laying in the hospital bed was hard for him to handle. He had to focus on the positives though, at least she was awake and healing. Cory walked up to the bed and Lea grabbed his hand to hold as she smiled up at him.

"How ya feelin babe?" Cory said with a sad forced smile.

She shrugged, "A little pain, this is getting exhausting. Everyone keeps telling me you pulled me out of the way of a speeding car, but I don't remember it." Lea's eyes began to fill with tears as her face struggled to keep a smile on it. "I'm so scared Cory."

He had no choice but to be strong for her, she needed it. "It's okay Lea, you'll remember soon enough. You just have to rest and know that I'm here for you," Cory said as he gave Lea a loving smile.

She nodded but worry still filled her face, "I hope the baby is okay," she said looking downwards at her stomach.

Understanding that her alternate reality was all the cause of him not being able to hold on to her, blood rushed to Cory's head as his eyes became glazed over. "You… you need to rest dear."

"I don't want you to leave me," Lea said gripping his hand tighter.

"I'll never leave you. Now _please_ rest, I'll be sitting right here when you wake up again." Eased by the presence of her 'husband,' Lea gave in to his wishes.

"Fine," she said, "I'll try… Oh and they took my wedding ring too, could you get it back for me love? I don't want them to misplace it."

"I'll do everything I can," Cory said as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

She dazed asleep with the help of some painkillers and Cory took a moment to go get Dianna in the waiting room.

"She's asleep now," Cory said looking down at the worried Dianna.

"Are you okay Cory? I know that wasn't easy." She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was struggling to keep it together.

"As long as she's okay, I'm okay." He said avoiding the question.

The two of them sat in Lea's room waiting for the next time she woke, to evaluate her condition. Even though the nurse said it was normal after such an experience, Lea slept for hours. They were assured that it could only be beneficial to her healing process with the sleep.

She finally opened her eyes again, searching the room for a friendly face until she found Dianna and Cory on the couch next to her and smiled. "Hi guys."

They both jumped to there feet at the sound of her voice, as a nurse walked in checking her levels. "I'm going to have to ask you two to leave again as the doctor comes in to check her out." They nodded understandingly and made their way to the waiting room.

Time passed again before the nurse came to update them. When she finally appeared, Cory stood up impatiently, "How is she?"

"She's doing well," the nurse began, "we believe that we have started to get her to understand what has happened to her. She's out of the initial shock and has started to come to terms."

Cory looked up at the ceiling nervously. "This is a good thing," the nurse reassured him, "it means that no serious damage was inflicted to her memory. Although she may never remember the exact moment of her injury, she's knowledgeable of everything else."

"Can we see her?" Dianna questioned.

"Yes," the nurse answered, "but still be gentile in your words and don't over do it."

They quickly made their way to see Lea, who was very alert and awake. "How are you guys? Please tell me you've gotten some sleep," Lea said looking at the dark bags under their eyes.

"We were so worried about you Lee," Dianna said, as she knew she looked like crap but didn't care.

Lea's eyes shift from Dianna's to Cory's where they paused and locked.

"I'm going to go make some calls okay sweetie? Your parents are waiting for my call. I'm so glad you're okay," Dianna said, removing herself from the room to give some privacy.

Lea looked up at Cory in appreciation. "Thank you so much for pulling me away from that car. I'm slowly starting to remember vague parts of it now."

"It's my fault you hit your head, I'm so sorry Lea." Cory's eyes filled with anguish as he blamed himself for hurting her.

"It's because of you I'm even alive now Cory! Don't you ever blame yourself for that! You know the last words I remember before I blacked out? They were you telling me to hold on. You're the reason I kept fighting, so if you want to blame yourself for something blame yourself for me living!" The last thing she expected was for him to take the blame for anything, so when she saw the anguish in his eyes she had to set him straight.

She looked down at his hand in hers. "…And this dream thing or whatever they called it reassured me. It just felt so good Cory, so... Real. Maybe my conscious just wanted to believe in it so much that I had a hard time coming back to reality. I've never been this happy before and it's all because of you."

A tearful smile spread across his face, "I didn't know what I was going to do if you didn't wake up. My mind was going crazy with all the things I should have said… the things I wish I'd still get to say if I got the chance. I know we are taking things slow, but I don't want you to never know how much I care for you Lea. From the moment I met you, well even by the first time I saw you, I knew it was meant to be. I'm so crazy about you Lea and I prayed I would get that chance to tell you that."

Hearing him pour out his heart to her like that made her speechless, it was like a dream came true. They both knew they were crazy in trying to slow the relationship down. People would say they were just in the 'honeymoon' phase of the relationship, the part at the beginning of every relationship where two people are crazy about each other. But that phase always comes to an end at some point. Lea knew that this time was the exception. She didn't need to be so cautious in entering another relationship after her last with Theo.

"I love you," Lea said gazing into his watered over eyes with a relaxed smile on her face. With these words he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers passionately for one heartfelt kiss. Lea's heart monitor began to beep while the levels jumped on the screen next to their bed.

"I love you more," Cory said looking at Lea like he had never looked at any other girl.

They were in their bubble again, holding hands, and pretending the world around them didn't exist until the nurse came to see why Lea's monitor had jumped.

After admitting what happened, Lea giggled. "Sorry, I wont let him do it again," she said as she looked over at Cory who gave a playful shrug in response.


	12. Chapter 12: Don't Go Breaking My Heart

When Lea finally was allowed back to work after a boring recovery, she was ecstatic. On doctor's orders Lea was instructed to take it easy and lay off the intense dance routines. During her time off, she had realized how much of a family she had around her everyday. All of her fellow cast members came to visit and hangout with her, genuinely concerned about how she was doing.

_It was nice to feel like a part of something for once_, Lea thought. Glee made her feel special, but not as special as Cory made her feel. He visited daily, spending as much time as he could with her. When she got the okay to work Lea was ready for everything to get back to normal. The nature of their relationship had stayed quiet throughout the whole ordeal, but not without a few close calls.

Wednesday morning came and Lea made her way to work. After some easy-going dance rehearsals, she ended up next to Cory.

"You did really good, you know that?" Lea smiled looking up at Cory who was, like usual, covered in sweat after dance practice.

"I just can't get that last step down," he said looking down at his beautiful girlfriend. She could tell the dancing was really getting him down.

"You'll get it, just takes some time and practice," she said encouragingly, causing his frown to transform to a small smile.

"Oh hey, I was going to tell you," Cory began hesitantly, "I found out last night an old friend is actually coming into town tomorrow and it would mean a lot to me if you would meet her."

Lea raised one eyebrow, "It's a her huh?" she teased.

He sighed, knowing she wasn't going to like what he had to say next. "Yeah, I mean you don't know everything about my past and we've kinda ignored the whole past relationships thing…" he paused trying to read her face. "It was awhile ago Lea. We didn't even make it official, I guess you could call it a fling but I was the one who stopped it. Anyway, her name is Taylor and she turned into one of my good friends. I guess you could say she's part of my old life, the one I'm not particularly proud of." He could see the disapproving look in Lea's eyes.

"I… If you really want me to meet her, I'll do it for you," she replied hesitantly. If it really meant that much to him, she couldn't say no.

"You'll like her Lea, she's cleaned up her act like I did." He said in relief. She took it all a lot better than he had expected.

* * *

><p>Lea was exhausted and thankfully didn't have to go into work on Friday. The previous night she had stopped by Cory's for a couple of hours as promised and already disliked the girl. She wasn't one to wear decent clothes, Lea thought, disgusted by the outfit she had met Taylor in. and <em>even<em> worse, she was staying on his pull out sofa bed.

As she paced her kitchen, Lea tried to remain calm, but she was _fuming_. Deep down inside she knew the reason. It was jealousy. The cause of many ends to relationships. But it wasn't going to overcome Lea, that was sure. She knew Taylor would be gone soon enough and if she kept her cool, their relationship would still be undamaged.

As much as Cory had promised her that Taylor had 'cleaned up her act,' Lea got the feeling that she wasn't one-hundred percent sober.

The night before had been a disaster and Cory knew how furious Lea was when she finally left. Taylor hinted in everything she said that she was better than Lea and acted like it too. She even went as far as to tear down Lea, jokingly of course, and explain how she wasn't Cory's usual type. He had called to apologize the second she texted him that she was home safely (like she always did).

"She's just jealous of you Lea and I yelled at her again for how she was acting. I'm so sorry. She apologized and I know she means it. Taylor just doesn't know how to accept the fact I made such a great life for myself and found a girl that I love. She just is having a harder time getting away from her past then I did. I know it's hard to understand Lea, but Taylor is a good person. Please, don't hold that against her, she wasn't being herself."

Lea did her best to hold back her anger. _How could he still defend her?_ "I'm trying to understand Cory, but I…I don't want another night like tonight. If that's the kind of friends you have then maybe I don't know you as well as I thought I do. I tried to get along with her for you, but I don't believe she's what you say she is. Have a fun weekend with _her_ Cory. How could you defend her after what she said?" To her defense, Lea thought she did a pretty decent job hiding her tears of rage and sadness.

"Lea let me come over and talk about this. I'm not defending what she said, I'm just trying to help you understand…"

She cut him off, "There's nothing more to understand Cory. I… I need space." The anger and hurt brought back the memories of being cheated on by Theo.

"Space? Lea please tell me you're not leaving me," he said desperately, hoping she meant something else.

"I can't do this Cory. I've been through this kind of situation not too long ago with Theo. I need a break." She said swallowing her tears.

"Don't do this, _please_, I love you so much Lea and I'm not going to hurt you like he did. You have to remember I'm not him." His voice chocked up on the other side of the line.

She couldn't stay on the phone any longer without losing it completely. "Have a fun weekend with your ex Cory," she said before hanging up the phone.

* * *

><p>The guilt of breaking his heart overcame her. She loved him more that words could describe, but was too afraid of letting her heart be broken again. Lea didn't realize that trying to protect her own heart from him breaking it would cause her to break it by herself. Maybe her motives were wrong, but she needed to know he wouldn't hurt her. If he loved her as much as she thought, she knew things would be fixed after the weekend was over.<p>

Fighting was the last thing she wanted to be doing and if Taylor was so important to Cory, she figured it would be in her best interest to swallow her pride and try to get along with her. There had to be a reason Cory still kept in contact with Taylor. Cory had a way of seeing the best in someone and had practically sworn on his life that she was not acting normal.

She needed advice, so she picked up her phone to call Dianna who always knew what to do when Lea needed help. Turning on her phone she saw a missed message from an hour ago. It was Dianna, and all it said was two words: 'call me!' Even at such a late hour, Lea knew Dianna wouldn't mind.

"Hey Dee, I just got your message what's up?" Lea said curiously.

"Finally you call me back!," said Dianna who was clearly worried about how abnormally long it took Lea to get back to her, "So I was down at the Cha Cha Lounge Bar and ran into Cory and Taylor. What happened dear? I haven't seen Cory in this bad of shape in awhile. I don't know what he's told you about his past Lee, but I'm worried he's going to relapse. He wasn't himself Lee, I don't know if you guys had a fight or whatever but he wouldn't listen to me. Please just put aside whatever is going on and make sure he's okay?"

The panic began to hit. Lea knew she had done the one thing that Cory had always worried about; break up with him. Deep down she hoped he realized how much she loved him. "How well do you know Taylor Dee?"

She laughed in disgust, "That chick is a bad influence and I'll guarantee you that she hasn't stopped doing drugs like she tells Cory. The bad thing about Cory, is he believes it every time because he hopes for the best for her."

"I've gotta go Dee, I've got to go talk to him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Lea said rushing to hang up her phone. Getting to Cory's was the most aggravating process in her life. She had so much to fix between her and Cory and she hoped she wasn't too late.

She walked up to his front door, knocked, and walked in like usual. The room was masked with a terrible odor and Taylor and Cory sat next to each other on the couch. Taylor was wearing a skanky outfit consisting of short jean shorts and a bra, looking like she didn't know what was going on. A white powder sat on the coffee table on a mirror and rolled paper sticks sat in a row next to it. They both sat there looked up at Lea, whose disbelieving eyes scanned the scene.

Cory's arm reached out holding a rolled joint, his jaw dropped in shock. "Le-Lea what are you doing here?" His hand dropped to put the rolled paper down on the table.

"I came to say I was sorry and that I love you." She said shaking in rage again and eyes swelling up with another round of tears. "But now… now we're done for good. I thought you were better than all this. How could you." She turned to run out the door, regretting ever piece of trust she put in him. All Lea wanted to do was get back to her car and drive off, pretending she had never made the trip in the first place. Cory chased after her, stopping her before she had the chance to unlock her car.

"Stop Lea, you don't understand." His eyes panicked as he tried to recover from the unexpected shock of seeing her at his house.

"No," Lea yelled back at him, "you don't understand Cory. I hate that I turned into that jealous girlfriend, but I can't help it. I just really thought I could trust you. I already was jealous enough at how pretty she is, then that whore is staying at your place? By the looks of it I just interrupted quite a night. Plus _drugs_ Cory?"

As they stood outside alone next to Lea's car it started to rain. It began lightly, but quickly turned to pouring. As Cory and Lea stared at each other in their own world, they seemed to not even notice how soaked they were getting. The loudness of the rain caused Cory to raise his voice for Lea to be able to hear him.

"There are some things I haven't told you yet about my past. You know that I was on a bad path and didn't care about who I was hurting. I...I was on a downwards spiral with any drug imaginable. And I was so tempted to relapse tonight Lea. I lost you, which was the last thing I was ever going to let myself do. But even though you broke up with me, I wasn't going to do it. You make me want to be a better person Lea. Taylor and I got home from the bar and I took a walk to clear my head. When I got back she was so high she didn't know what was up or down, so I took the joint out of her hand… and you walked in." He looked down, breaking eye contact with Lea.

It was then that she knew she had mistaken and wrongfully accused Cory. "I'm… I'm so sorry, it just looked… _so_ bad. And I, I jumped to conclusions."

"It's okay I know it looked bad. But I love _you_, more than I have ever loved anyone before." He said as he moved a piece of her sopping wet hair out of her face. "You have nothing to be jealous of."

She stared down at her feet, "she's prettier than me."

Her head lifted with the touch of his hands on her cheeks. "Would you stop. You're beautiful."

Their eyes connected once again as he leaned in to kiss her softly. The rain had drenched ever inch of them, but that played no importance to either Lea or Cory. Their lips released one another as they pulled each other together, holding each other tightly.

"Can I spend the night on your couch tonight?" Cory asked while still hugging Lea. "I can't be in my own house, its not good for me. And I'll tell Taylor she has to leave tomorrow."

"Of course you can," Lea replied without a pause.

Cory told Lea to wait in the car as he took away all of Taylor's stashed drugs, throwing them away so she couldn't find them, and after he made sure she would be okay he left to join Lea in the car.

* * *

><p>Cory lit a fire in the fireplace as Lea grabbed some towels to sit on and dry off with. The fire crackled as it came to life, illuminating the dark room and dispersing its warmth. Lea walked down the steps with a pile of towels that she had scavenged and realized they wouldn't do the trick.<p>

"I'll be right back," Lea said with a smile as she returned upstairs to gather more items. Cory watched her return with some pillows and blankets pouring out of her arms.

With clothes still soaked through, they both knew the best way to warm up. "I'm going to go change out of these clothes," she said shivering, "I brought down some baggy shorts for you if you want to change to," she said pointing to the pile on the couch.

Cory picked them up and grinned, "you just happened to have a pair of guy shorts laying around?"

"Hey now! They're comfy! You don't have to use them," she teased, "but we'll put our clothes in the dryer and they should be done in no time."

"Now I'll be back down to get your wet clothes soon," she said as she scampered up the stairs.

Coming back down Lea saw Cory in the comfy shorts she had given him, but still in his damp tee shirt. The rest of his clothes were in his hands, "where should I put these?"

Lea giggled and signaled him to follow. She led him into the other room where the dryer was and threw her clothes inside. He copied, throwing his clothes into the dryer.

Lea turned to face Cory, who was smiling back at her. Her fingers found the base of his shirt and hooked around the seams. Pulling it up his torso until his hands took over and pulled the shirt over his head.

He closed and started the dryer while her hands rested on his body. Feeling the grooves of his abs and the way his skin reacted from her touch amused Lea.

He grabbed her waist as their lips met and boosted her up onto the dryer. Her hands explored every inch of his exposed chest while he admired the thinness of her sexy nightgown and how it laid smoothly over the curves of her body. He picked her up with her legs wrapped around his waist and brought her back by the warm fireplace.

Laying her down on the soft pillows he set up next to the fire, their lips had only parted for air since coming from the laundry room. Cory hovered over her as their eyes locked and he began kissing softly on her neck and shoulder.

"I love you," Cory murmured in between one of his soft kisses.

She bought his head back to eye level with her hands and spoke. "I love you."

He leaned in to press his lips onto hers taking in her sweet breath while the fire let out a loud 'pop' in between the crackles.


	13. Chapter 13: Need You Now

Lea woke up the next morning wrapped in Cory's arms facing the fireplace with him behind her. Last night was like none other. She had never given so much of herself to another person as she had to Cory. Sure she had made love to Theo in the past, but it didn't mean as much as last night did.

Lea laid still as she could, trying not to wake Cory. He was all she ever wanted and more. He shifted slightly, waking up slowly, and pulled Lea closer to him keeping her snug to his chest.

"Morning handsome," Lea said softy as she sighed contently.

"How's my beautiful girlfriend this morning," Cory said, not loosing his hold of her.

"She's happy," Lea responded while Cory kissed her on her exposed shoulder. She sighed with the contact of his lips on her skin, "Last night was…"

He cut her off, answering for her, "the best night of my life and I don't care how cheesy that sounds."

Lea rolled over in his arms to face him, looking up into his eyes until they were finally open for good. It was then that he planted one soft long kiss on her forehead.

"I got called in to record today," Lea said sadly, "I guess I better get up."

Teasingly, he still did not loosen his hug, "what if I don't let you go?"

"Well," she laughed, "honestly, I wouldn't mind one bit… but if I lose my job I'll have to move back to New York."

He sighed teasingly, "fine, you win this time. But don't think you'll be so lucky next time."

She pulled one of the covers off the two of them and wrapped it around herself, picking up the trail of clothes that scattered across the room as she made her way to the stairs.

_Good thing it was just a studio day and appearances didn't matter_, Lea thought to herself as she threw her hair up into a loose bun and got dressed. Hurrying back downstairs, Lea remembered that she had to drop Cory back off at his place, because he had rode with her the night before.

Lea's stomach dropped when they make it to Cory's as she was reminded of their fight they had less than a day ago.

"I love you," he said leaning in towards her in the car, easing her worry.

"I love you too," she said smiling back.

He kissed her lips softy and quickly before leaving the car.

* * *

><p>When she got to the studio, Lea caught the end of Dianna's recording time.<p>

"With that engraved smile on your face, I take it you and Cory worked things out?" Dianna said with a smirk.

Lea blushed looking away with a sheepish nod.

"_Wait… _you two had sex! Its all over your face!" Dianna's eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

More blood rushed to the surface of her cheeks, "no! I didn't! Well… _Fine!_ But how did you know?"

Dianna laughed, "Lee sweetie, you're my best friend. You're the happiest I've ever seen you."

"What can I say, I'm so in love with him Dee. Call me crazy, but I know he's the one." Lea could not stop smiling. Her and Cory's bond had become unbreakable. She could not imagine her life without him in it.

"As long as you don't think you're moving to fast, then you have nothing to worry about. No one else will know your relationship like you do. But let me just say I get dibs on babysitting the first baby." Dianna knew by seeing the change in both Lea and Cory that they changed each other for the best.

* * *

><p>What had she done? How did she let it happen? Panic rushed over her as she did all that she could do. Wait, wait and pray. Her future flashed before her eyes and the never-ending 'what if's' rushed out.<p>

The deadly sign flashed on the stick before her. Two lines. There was no use in using a tissue to dry her tears, the stream of salty-liquid flowing from her brown eyes would not let up. _What to tell Cory,_ her mind raced, _she knew he would be the guy to do the right thing. But how could she let him just give up his dreams?_

Lea knew she couldn't lie to him. They had been through so much: Relationship drama, a car accident that almost took her life, jealousy, and those were just some of the troubling times. They however were outweighed and replaced with perfect moments of love and irreplaceable moments. After she got the courage to pick up her phone an hour later, she called him.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Cory's friendly voice filled the other line.

"I…I.." her words were not forming as planned. "I need to talk to you. It's really important."

The usual playful tone in his voice had disappeared. "What's wrong Lea?"

"Would you mind just coming over? I don't really want to talk about it over the phone." She said as her nose sniffled.

He was on the way before he hung up the phone. Rushing into her house, he headed straight towards Lea, taking her in his arms. "Are you okay?" Cory asked nervously. She didn't speak. "Lea, I love you. What could be so bad that you can't tell me?"

Lea took in a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm pregnant Cory."

They stared at each other, both trying to take in the news. Cory was the first to speak, "It's going to be alright Lea. We-we can do this. Together."

"I can't let you give up your future Cory." Lea sobbed.

"We're in this together. I'm going to do the right thing." He said trying everything he could to be strong.

"For the past hour all I've been thinking about is my dream I had in the hospital. I know its crazy but I could picture it all. I saw my life and future with you and its all I've ever wanted. But not like this Cory."

"Listen to me Lea. I won't give up my dream as you want me to, because you've been my dream ever since I met you. Yes, that sounds cheesy, but I mean every word of it. I'm telling you, I will be right there with you." He poured his heart out, still confused at how it happened.

"But Lea, what happened? I thought you were on the pill," Cory asked calmly.

"I am! That's why I don't know how this happened! I have never skipped a pill or anything." Lea's bloodshot eyes gazed at Cory.

"Lets just go to the doctor and see what he has to say," he said trying to reassure her. "There's councilors that can help us know what to do and I'm sure our families will be there to help us. I'm telling you Lea, we're going to get through this."

She leaned into his chest as he stroked her hair comfortingly trying to stay strong, but knowing that everything was about to change.

* * *

><p>Their doctor visit was scheduled at the end of the week. Lea had done her best, but could not hide her worry. The night before their appointment, Cory had made Lea promise that they would still have their usual date night.<p>

Cory picked her up and took Lea out to her favorite restaurant, Breadsticks. As they sat waiting for their food, Cory took her hands in his and rested them on the table.

"I love you Lea," Cory said tenderly. Knowing that it was important now more than ever for Lea to be reassured on his feelings for her.

Lea's expression made her look hopeless and to anyone who didn't know better it was only because of the pregnancy. However it went much deeper than that. Ever since that fateful second when her test came back positive, she was afraid. First it was that Cory would leave her, but after much thought Lea realized that she was more afraid that he would _never_ leave her.

Her mind was racing at the table as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes. _I can't let Cory give up everything for me because of this baby. Someday he will regret it all and feel unhappy and stuck. _Lea had contemplated breaking up with him for the last few days, but couldn't move herself to do it.

She gave him a pitiful smile and spoke quietly and calmly, "I love you too Cory. I love you so much that I… I can't let you…" The tears were piling up as her words got caught in her throat.

His words started to shake as did his whole body, "you don't have to worry about that, because I want to be right by your side. I- I know we've had our obstacles and we're still young, but I love you Lea." With his shaking and fumbling over his words, Lea was nervous with where the conversation would end.

"It took almost loosing you that night in the hospital to realize that I never needed to worry about moving to fast with you. I would do anything just to make you happy. You are_ my world_. Which makes it even easier to do the right thing by you."

The words poured out of Cory's mouth as he let go of her hands and pulled out a small box while getting down on one knee. "Lea, would you make the happiest, most undeserving man in the world and do me the honor of marrying and spending the rest of your life loving me?"

Her face went blank as blood rushed to her face. Barely being able to look at him through the water barrier layer that covered the surface of her eyes, she turned her attention down at the diamond ring that sat in the box. It seemed that Lea had lost all capacity to form words.

"A nod or really any sound would be nice?" He said looking up to her from the ground where he knelt. She still did not make a sound as she gathered her thoughts, still in shock. "Lea?," he said one last time still frozen in place.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for following my story so far, this chapter was smaller then my usual, but i hope you still liked it. Reviews would be awesome and I'll update soon!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14: Faithfully

"I love you Cory…" she said finally, "…but I can't say yes." Her cheeks were soaked with streams of tears. Cory's head hung as he fell to both knee's on the floor, burying his head into her lap.

"I'm sorry," Lea continued as she held his head in her hands, "but I know you thought it was the right thing to do after I told you I was pregnant, but I don't think that is a good reason to get married. Cory," she said quietly, lifting his head up to look at her, "Someday I hope to walk down that isle and be yours forever, but not now. Not this way. Do.. Do you understand?" He looked up, as she saw his bloodshot eyes and quivering body. It was like his heart had been ripped out, ran over by a car, and put back into his body to cause agony and pain.

"I'm so, so sorry Cory," Lea said as Cory finally got off his knees. He leaned in pressing his lips to her forehead whispering quietly, "its okay." Immediately after he sat back down in his chair and the two of them looked at each other in dead silence, sharing saddened smiles. There were no words to say, the silence said it all.

* * *

><p>They didn't belong there, not in this situation.<p>

"I'm not ready for all this," Lea said quietly nuzzling her head into the side of Cory's chest.

The doctor walked into the room with the test results they had ran earlier that day. "Ms. Sarfati?" his deep rusty voice spoke clearly.

"Yes," Lea replied sheepishly, still holding on to Cory.

The man sat down at the desk chair and began asking her some personal questions, trying to get to know his patients situation. After explaining the tests they had ran and results, he said something that caught Lea off guard.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you're _not_ pregnant."

Her body froze, "but the- the pregnancy test said positive?" She said confused.

Cory pulled her in closer to him, into a sideways hug, clearly relieved but also had mixed emotions. Keeping her close to him as if to stabilize her, he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

The man spoke again, "most likely it read it as a false-positive. Obviously our tests here in the lab are more accurate than those out on the market. Either way, it was negative Lea." After a slight pause to give Cory and Lea a second to wrap their minds around the results, he broke the silence. "We are affiliated with some great counseling psychologists who specialize in these types of cases, I can get their information for a referral if that is something that interests you."

"There's no need for that," Lea replied as she finally was able to exhale fully and relax. Knowing that if she did need to speak about it there were plenty of people in her life that would listen, including the psychologist she had been seeing for the recovery of her accident.

The doctor nodded and finished the paperwork before they were allowed to leave. The car ride was silent until Cory turned off the ignition, parking in front of Lea's house. "Nothing's ever smooth sailing for us is it?" Lea joked breaking the tension.

He chuckled in agreement. "All that matters is that I have you. As long as we've got each other I think we can get through it all." He said with one of his sideway smiles that she loved so much.

"Have I told you today that I love you?" Lea said giggling, leaning in for a kiss and stopping a few inches from his face.

"Why no, I don't think you have," Cory smirked and eliminated the distance between their faces as he pressed his lips to hers.

"I-erm- have a confession to tell you Cory, I don't really know how to say it." Lea said awkwardly. "Is it messed up that I'm sad? I know I wasn't ready to be a mother, god I'd be a horrible mother. But the thought of us creating a life together, tethering us together for the rest of our lives and then told the complete opposite of what I was just starting to see the positive in? That's what makes me sad."

Cory shook his head, "You would be a great mother. And secondly, It's normal to be sad in this situation. But I will _never_ leave you Lea. You actually understand why not right?"

She rolled her eyes, "_because you love me_."

"Good. You do know." He chuckled. "we'll it may take time to get past this, but that's all we've got."

"Another thing I think we need to talk about is us in public. We've kept us quiet so far, but the show is getting bigger and bigger and…" She trailed off.

Cutting her off, he tried to reassure her, "listen, our close friends know and have covered our asses before. Let's just keep it up how it is. Things are good and I just don't think publically announcing it would be good for us right now."

Lea exhaled, "thank god. I was worried you wanted to out it. I mean when I first brought up the secrecy idea I think you just agreed because you would do anything to just be with me. I always thought you were mad at me for keeping it quiet." This time Cory was the one to roll his eyes.

"But does this mean no more tagged Finchel tweets?" Cory said pouting out his lower lip.

Pausing to think about it, she finally made up her mind. "Nah, I mean let the fandom go in a frenzy," Lea said letting out one of her adorable, room-filling laughs. "I mean, I called you my fake boyfriend to the press and according to them we're just really close cast mates."

"They got one thing right then didn't they," he said smirking, "we are _really_ close." Leaning it to kiss her on the cheek, he squeezed his hand that was resting on the inside of Lea's thigh. With that, Lea squeezed back with her hand that was wrapped around his arm and turned her head to make eye contact.

_He was hers and all hers, forever and always a part of something special._

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry it took so long to update, things have been hectic. Also, this chapter is short, really short i know! Sorry again! BUT next one (the conclusion) is going to be a lengthy one so bare with me! please review!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15: I Just Can't Stop Loving You

(A Month Later)

"I wish I didn't have to leave. Don't get me wrong I'm stoked to get to go back home and see my family, but I'm going to miss you so much," Lea said looking up at Cory as they stood in her kitchen.

"You know you want to let me come with," Cory said teasing her in his usual flirty way.

"No!" she said giggling, he was not going to win this one. "You're going home too and I know how excited you are to go to the Canucks game."

"There are other games Lea, I just… I'm going to miss you." He shrugged, knowing what he said sounded incredibly clingy. But Lea knew the feeling. They hadn't been apart or this far away from each other before since they started dating.

"New Years is in two days Cory, this is your chance to go home and be with your mom and friends." As much as she wanted him to come with her to New York, Lea knew this was the way it had to be.

They were at the airport, bags in hand, spending every last moment together before Lea boarded her flight. They stood isolated in a separate room, the airport had been kind enough to take precautions for protection. Glee had become such a huge hit that she barely was able to get out in public without being stormed. It was surreal. Sure it could get frustrating not being able to go out and live carefree, but her dreams had come true and she loved nothing more than her fans. Well, nothing more but Cory. That was the most bittersweet part of being in the spotlight. The one thing she wished she didn't have to hide anymore was their relationship and quickly Lea found herself rethinking this whole 'secret' dating decision. There would be no more moving forward if they had to hide. Then the overhead speaker announced the boarding of her flight.

"NO!," Lea yelled back groaning, while Cory squeezed her in to his chest for one last hug. Pulling away from each other, a few last words were exchanged.

"Call me when you land, so I know you're safe. I'll call you when I land too."

"You know I will," Lea said automatically, knowing she would be calling him a lot when they were apart. "When do you board?"

"Twenty minutes. Remember our Skype date New Years eve, you better be on at 11:50 sharp your time, or you'll have a lot of explaining to do." Cory said teasingly. They had devised the plan to use the face chat on their phones so that they would be able to welcome in the New Year in together, even if they were about three thousand miles apart.

Dianna walked in happy she interrupted. She loved seeing her best friend caught off guard. "Don't worry Cory I'll take care of her. Time to go Lee."

He didn't take his eyes off her. At first Lea thought he somehow hadn't noticed Dianna entering and talking to him. But then he spoke, "You better or you'll have some explaining to do Dee." He glanced away to give Dianna a small crooked smile before returning his eyes to Lea. One last passionate kiss was all they had time for, as Cory simultaneously wiped away a tear that had escaped off her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you more," Lea said before she turned her back to board the plane with Dianna, knowing it was going to be an extremely long trip. There was no feeling like the one that had now taken over. The second Lea took her eyes off him, she missed him. He knew literally everything about her, he loved and cared for her, but first and foremost he was her one true soul mate.

"Whatchya thinking about?" Dianna said after Lea had not said a word since they took off.

"Oh you don't really need to ask do you?" Lea said sarcastically. It was just one of those things that went without saying. Cory was always on her mind. Dianna giggled knowing her guesses were right.

"Don't get me wrong Dee, I am beyond stoked that our families are spending the holidays together along with a bunch of our friends and families... I just wish he was going to be there too. You know how superstitious I am Dee… it's destined to be a bad year."

Dianna rolled her eyes, "Lee don't sabotage yourself. Think on the bright side, you got to spend Christmas night with him… _ALL night and day, I can only imagine what the neighbors are now saying. Oh cooooory_"

Lea's face went blank in shock as she cut into Dianna's remark, "THAT IS PRIVATE and my neighbors certainty did not hear us."

"HA! I knew it!," Dianna's voice rung out in laughter, "it was almost too easy getting it out of you sweetie. You're going to have to do better than that around the press."

There it was again. The problem that had been eating at her for the last few weeks. Keeping everything secret at first had certainly allowed them to get to know each other faster on an intimate level. After the car accident, which he wrongly blamed himself for, Cory had taken it as his number one job to never let her get hurt again. But she was getting sick of not being able to go out in public with Cory.

"Nothing has ever been easy for me. Even with Cory. We've had our problems Dee, but it's always involving other people. When its just the two of us… its different. He's the sweetest person in the world, when I'm with him everything just feels right. I've never been happier. I… I… I can't believe I said no to his proposal." She said as her eyes pooled over with water.

Dianna, being Lea's best friend, had been filled in with all the details of the pregnancy scare and had many long girl nights discussing it. "Everything happens for a reason Lee, maybe then just wasn't the right time. Stop dwelling on the past, it was nearly a month ago. I'm really happy I got you two together, you're good for each other. I still call the position of babysitting your kids someday."

They finally landed and Lea turned on her phone as it buzzed from an incoming text message. Dianna's phone also went off, but Lea didn't seem to notice at first. Too concentrated on the three words on her screen: 'miss you already' sent a minute after she took off. She looked over at Dianna, feverishly typing away on her phone. "Sounds important, with all that typing you should have just called instead," Lea said jokingly.

"Oh its nothing Lee, don't worry about it. Go call Cory, I know you're dying to do it." Without waiting another second Lea was on her phone calling the love of her life.

She revisited Dianna waiting patiently, but clearly wanting to get out of the airport. "There, Left a message.. He's on his plane now."

"Good. Lets grab a bite first please, I need another bite before I do anything." Dianna said sounding hurried.

"uh sure, whatever works for me," Lea said unpleased that they weren't going straight to see their families who were gathering at Lea's parents house.

An hour had gone by. This dinner seemed to last for hours, thought lea, who was antsy to get home. "Dee, Cory hasn't called yet... what if something happened?"

"The flight probably just got delayed, he'll call." Dianna said as she paid the bill. "Lets go, my mom just said they're all waiting for us."

When they got to the house it was crowded. Lea could not figure out how everyone fit in there and there were so many faces she could not focus on who belonged to them all. Overwhelmed, Lea was happy her mom and dad stepped forward to give her an infamous Sarfati family hug. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dianna being swarmed by her family as well.

Her mom then spoke after releasing Lea from her tight grasp. "I've missed you sweetie, how was the trip?"

Lea was beyond happy to be with her family again, there truly was no place like home. But she knew something was missing in this perfect picture. Lea took a second to glance down at her phone, still no message. "I'm so happy to be home, it seemed like such a long trip!" She said, finally answering her mom. The glance did not go unnoticed. Guiltily, Lea felt the need to explain herself. "I'm just waiting for a call, sorry mom I know that was rude."

"Oh its okay, I remember those days myself with your father," she said with a smile.

The room was still buzzing with chatter and Italian music in the background. Finally Lea's phone began to buzz. She tried to hide the excitement as she jumped to see Cory's name on the phone. "I swear I wont be long, just need to know he's safe." Lea's mother nodded in approval with a big grin on her face.

"What took you so long!" Lea said pretending to be angry at him.

"Sorry babe, it was a long trip. How's the family?" Cory said, giving no more explanation.

"Oh if you could only see," Lea said looking around the room and meeting Dianna's eye who seemed overly excited for something. And there it was in her mom's face as well. A rush of confusion spread through her mind. While trying to understand it Cory cut through on the other line.

"They're looking at you funny aren't they?" He said almost jokingly.

Pure bewilderment was her facial expression. "Yeah, but I don't know why.. Probably just because I'm speaking to my _boyfriend,_" She said that last word a little bit quieter, playing on their 'secret' relationship that their family all knew about.

This seamed to make Cory laugh even more. "Turn around babe."

"Wha-What?" Lea said as she spun around on her heel. But there he was. Standing in between the newly formed parting of the crowed.

Her jaw was permanently unhinged. Dianna was in her peripheral vision jumping up and down ecstatically. She was clearly in on this.. that little brat.

"Surprise!" Cory said smiling walking towards her.

Nothing was making sense anymore, because Cory who was home in Canada was certainly not ten feet in front of her.

"Lea?' Cory said, taking her hands in his. The room went silent. Then it clicked. He was there. This was real. With this realization she couldn't help her self but to throw her harms around him and squeeze. Everything was finally perfect, the last piece put into place. She leaned up to give him a innocent kiss (after all, they were around family). Then another realization hit and she broke apart from him.

"But how-how are you even-your plane though-YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN CANADA WITH YOUR FAMILY!"

"I know but Lea… I brought them with." And surely there were his parents, off to his side.

"You made them fly all this way, just to see you, so that you could see me?" Clearly it made no sense and every situation running through her head did not add up.

"I flew them out here, because I thought they would want to be here for this," Cory said taking Lea's hands from her sides and holding them in his.

"For my parent's simple New Year's party? Cory I-"

He cut her off. "No Lea, for what I'm about to say to you." It was then Lea realized how nervous he was and things began adding up. "Just listen okay?" he said as Lea nodded her head anxiously. Her hands were sweating and her face felt like it was on fire it was so hot.

"From the moment I met you, I knew you were the one for me Lea. It was the first time I saw you actually; I couldn't take my eyes off you. You stood on the other side of the room at that party and I saw you talking with Mark and my heart sank. Little did you know Dee, who was talking to me at that moment was trying to convince me to meet her friend she came with."

They both looked over at Dianna who was verging on tears of happiness. She always melted in moments like these. "Little did you know Cory that it was Lea who I was trying to get you to meet!" she said laughing.

"Yeah," Cory continued, "I would have missed out entirely if well, you know. One good thing that loser did for us was brought us together." Lea couldn't help but remember her first impression of Cory and how he was as her side getting Theo to leave her alone.

"I knew I was never going to let you go from that night. We had our issues of course. As stubborn as you were thinking I could be with anyone but you," Lea glanced quickly at Dianna who rolled her eyes jokingly back as Lea shrugged her shoulders.

"…I prayed that it would lift and you'd give me a chance. Lea I love you so much that I can't imagine my life without you. But I messed up. I wasn't able to protect you from the car accident and I blamed myself everyday for not keeping you safe. You told me that I was the reason you kept fighting that day. Lea, you are the reason I keep fighting to be a better person everyday. I look at you an am so blessed you chose to let me love you. You are this bright star that burns for everyone to see and share your energy. I can honestly say that I am a better man from knowing you. I asked you to marry me once before, but it was all wrong. I was determined to never give up though; I couldn't even if I tried to make myself. The most important thing to you is your family, as mine is to me, and frankly it made no sense not having them here with us right now."

He took in a deep breath and dabbed the sweat on his forehead. "Now, I bought this ring the day after we had that first candlelight dinner date at my house when you finally agreed to take a chance on me. With all that said," Cory slowly got down on one knee and opened the ring box, "Lea, you are the love of my life and I will be forever faithful If you would do me the honor of being my wife. Will you marry me Lea Michele Sarfati?"

The word speechless could not even describe how Lea felt at that moment. It was the proposal and conditions that she had always imagined. She regretted saying no the last time and was not going to loose the chance this time. With tears in her eyes, her shaking hands tried to hold her face steady.

"Yes." She managed to say through her permanent smile etched on her face from listening to his speech.

"Yes?" Cory said almost in disbelief.

"YES Cory Monteith I will marry you!" Lea shrieked in happiness. The crowd of family let out applause in celebration.

"Are our families being here pressuring to say yes, because If your not—" He was cut off.

"PUT THAT RING ON MY FINGER AND KISS ME ALREADY!" Lea said extending her left hand out.

He did not have to be told twice as he slid the ring on her finger and took her in his arms. Family being around them did not keep them to a 'polite' kiss this time. Cory passionately pressed his lips on Lea's and wasn't going to give her a chance to breathe. Just like that first sight at their first party together, they lost track of what was going around them. They'd have to work on learning how to avoid doing that in public later.

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><p><strong>Thank you all for reading this through to the end. I apologize for the end taking so long. Please leave a commentreview my story. I'd love opinions!**


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